Vienna: Two days after rallying 7 million protesters across the world by invoking the threat of climate change, Greta Thunberg was credited for motivating voters to redraw the political landscape in Austria.

After being frozen out of parliament just two years ago, the Alpine country's Greens unexpectedly tripled their support in Sunday's election to win 14 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary projections. The result sets up the group as a viable coalition partner for Sebastian Kurz's People's Party and shows how environmental concerns are moving to the top of the political agenda in Europe.

"The thematic development really helped the Greens, I'm thinking here of Greta Thunberg and the climate protests," Social Democrats Managing Director Thomas Drozda said in an ORF television interview conceding defeat. "This is an area where the Greens have had credibility for the last 20 or 25 years."

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is being credited with a dramatic political shift in Austria. Credit:The Canadian Press

Amid record summer heat waves, funerals for lost glaciers and dying forests, climate change is starting to change European Union politics at the highest levels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leader of the bloc's economic engine, is losing popularity to the country's Greens after being seen as too timid in protecting the environment.