Sensible people in Estonia and elsewhere in the world are looking with concern at the triumph and proliferation of conservative populism. The closer elections come, the more people's faces sour after a look at the polling results.

In Estonia, too, the main question seems to be whether the next prime minister will be named Mihhail or Urmas (Center Party head Mihhail Kõlvart or Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu – ed.). Behind them, an increasingly vociferous Martin Helme [EKRE] smells an opportunity to return to the post of minister and "make heads roll." Listening to talk of reversing marriage equality, burning oil shale and the like is about as unpleasant as sitting next to an aggressively ranting non-citizen on the tram.

Who will deliver us from this mess? The Parempoolsed?

Let us do some ratings calculations. EKRE, Isamaa and Center have 50 sets, Reform and SDE 40 and Parempoolsed 11. If the latter become the kingmaker in parliament, which is entirely possible, we will find ourselves in a situation where the government will be ensuring the timber sector's "security of supply," or in the words of timber industrialist Jaak Nigul, harvesting  another billion euros from Estonian forests. A few bank accounts would grow, while most people would be left with nothing but tree stumps to look at.

The Greens stand opposed to such developments. Selling a kidney so you could continue binge-drinking with your friends for another week might seem like a good idea through the haze of a hangover after a months-long bender, but it is generally advisable to sober up completely before making decisions of this magnitude. We will have need of our world's best living environment.

We're talking about economic growth as if it could make us happy. Growth is good, but who draws real happiness from it? Let us, instead, center debate around happy people, a brilliant living environment, good mental and physical health. These are the things we should be talking about, instead of spending our days wondering why the economy grew by 2 percent and not 3.

What will improve if Eesti 200 and Greens join forces? The idea that Eesti 200 could be a far greener party is nothing new. Züleyxa Izmailova, a former member of both Eesti 200 and the Greens, fought toward that goal with some success. Eesti 200 was at a crossroads then and made what we believe was the wrong choice, but the measure of a good politician is not whether they make mistakes, it's whether they learn from them.

The Greens have been widely criticized for both ignoring other important topics in society and talking about them. In a sense, we've painted ourselves into a green corner and are pondering how to get out. Clearly, we, too, need major change to move forward. We need to correct our own mistakes and once again take part in the public debate.

Eesti 200 talked about having a long plan ahead of the 2023 elections. But a single election cycle is not a long plan. Mistakes were clearly made when the long plan started and a price has been paid in the polls.

However, any truly long-term plan is also a green plan. That said, green topics tend to be a nice-to-have for people. Everyone is green in words, but making ends meet and security always comes before the environment.

The new party must take this into account because the party and its politics are, after all, for the people of Estonia and no one else. We protect nature because people cannot survive without it and because no other party will do it. Our task is to show how a good life and environmental protection are inextricably linked and that green solutions exist for all the problems that matter to people.

We invite people to join us who want individual freedoms to be protected in Estonia and want us to remain free. Free not only from Russian troops, but free in our thinking as well. People who understand that without protecting our living environment, our future is bleak. Those who want Estonians to be enterprising and prosperous and to fulfill their talents for their own benefit and that of society, but who do not want that prosperity to come at the expense of our living environment.

There are a million other ways to do business than cutting down every tree. We welcome everyone who sees Estonia's future as free and green.

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