Comparing Regional and National Climate Policy Preferences: An Analysis of Political Parties in the Basque Country and Catalonia

Abstract

Recent research has uncovered positive connections between parties’ center-periphery and climate policy preferences when they compete in regional elections, with pro-periphery parties using climate concerns to bolster their territorial claims. However, the particular significance of climate change at the regional level, due to its more direct impacts in this arena, raises questions about the extent to which these parties replicate similar behaviors in national elections. To address this gap, this article analyzes the manifestos of parties that secured representation during the 2016 and 2019 Spanish general elections, as well as in the regional elections held during overlapping periods in Catalonia (2017 and 2021) and the Basque Country (2016 and 2020). The empirical findings reveal that parties with stronger pro-decentralization and pro-independence stances allocate more content to climate change and adopt more favorable positions on this issue in their regional manifestos compared to their national counterparts.