Climate change and the far right

Abstract

In recent years two crises have populated the imagination of publics: environmental crises, ranging from, for example, water and air pollution to climate change, and the crisis of liberal democracy, illustrated by the rise of far‐right actors across Europe, the United States and beyond. While these environmental and political crises have been analyzed on their own, little research has been done on their nexus. Against this background, this focus article reviews existing academic literature on far‐right climate‐change communication by European party and nonparty actors, that is, climate‐change communication from a distinctively ethno‐nationalist and authoritarian perspective. The far right is not a homogenous entity but best viewed as a continuum, ranging from radical‐right, anti‐liberal democracy actors to extreme‐right, anti‐democracy ones. This contribution to WIREs Climate Change argues that many, though not all, far‐right party and nonparty actors are skeptical towards (anthropogenic) climate change and/or responses to it, at least in comparison to the European mainstream. The article does so by reviewing existing research before formulating areas for further research. This article is categorized under: Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Social Movements

Understanding public concern about climate change in Europe, 2008–2017: the influence of economic factors and right-wing populism

“…First, the data do not consider heterogeneity between parties. Although the majority of right-wing populist parties are climate skeptic, the degree of skepticism varies between them (Forchtner, 2019). Second, the vote share of these parties gives a rather static representation of their popularity, as for each country-year the vote share of the most recent national election is used, whereas popularity can also change in between national elections.…”

“…Left-wing populism, on the other hand, lacks this element and portrays the struggle between the elite and the people mainly as a class struggle where the former economically exploits the latter (Huber, 2020;Huber & Schimpf, 2017;Mudde & Rovira Kaltwasser, 2013;Zulianello, 2020). Some of the core tenets of right-wing populism, in particular its tendency towards authoritarianism, relate negatively to liberal democratic quality (Mudde, 2007), which is why the rise of right-wing populism is often depicted as an unfolding crisis of liberal democracy (Forchtner, 2019).…”

“…The international, cosmopolitan nature of climate change (negotiations) is directly at odds with right-wing populists' values (Lockwood, 2018). It has also empirically been found that a large majority of European right-wing populist parties are skeptical about climate change, revealing different motivations for their climate skepticism (Forchtner, 2019;Hess & Renner, 2019;Lockwood, 2018;Schaller & Carius, 2019). Climate skepticism is manifested as trend skepticism (the climate is not changing), attribution skepticism (climate change exists but is not anthropogenic), and/or impact skepticism (climate change exists but does not lead to significant impacts; Lockwood, 2018;Poortinga et al, 2011).…”

“…With the use of this innovative data and methodology, this paper aims to provide a better explanation of what drives fluctuations in climate change concern over time within European countries; what explains differences in concern between these countries; and the extent to which the influence of determinants changes over time. To do this, the study researches how economic factors and the rise of right-wing populism have shaped public concern about climate change in Europe over the period 2008-2017. As Forchtner (2019 states, two crises have captured the imagination of publics in recent years: the environmental crisis with climate change as the key protagonist, and the liberal democracy crisis embodied by the rise of right-wing populism.…”

“…Over the past decade, right-wing populist parties have been rising in electoral popularity in many countries in Europe and anti-climate positions and rhetoric have become an increasingly important engine for their political activities (Forchtner, 2019;Fraune & Knodt, 2018). Climate change portrayed as an abstract, technical, and uncertain issue of primary interest to a cosmopolitan elite, far away from the everyday needs of ordinary people and threatening national sovereignty, provides an ideal target for right-wing populist parties.…”