The study, from the universities of Sussex and Warwick, looked at the policies of more than 25 countries over a period of more than a decade. The researchers created a climate policy indicator and compared it to a baseline of a center-right government. They found that the combined effect of the presence of a right-wing populist party in parliament and government was associated with a reduction in the index of about 25% on average. But while right-wing populist parties have had a negative impact on climate policy in all areas, EU membership and proportional representation voting systems have diminished the impact. The study’s authors, brothers Dr. Matthew Lockwood and Ben Lockwood, wrote: limited number of cabinets. positions and a tendency not to give priority to portfolios related to climate policy. “In contrast, in countries with majority electoral systems, when right-wing populist parties enter government, our finding is that they have a much greater influence on climate policy.” Examples of right-wing populists reversing climate policy include Donald Trump, who pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and backed coal. In Australia, Tony Abbott abolished the price of coal in that country. Matthew Lockwood, of the University of Sussex, said populist parties were a growing concern because of the cost-of-living crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war. “The issue with right-wing populist parties is that they tend to react a lot to the crisis,” he said. “In Europe, a lot of it was about immigration, and in the UK it was Brexit. And these issues have gone away a bit, so the people who pushed for Brexit are now in the net zero control group. “They are the same people who are reacting to a crisis but are now pushing against climate action.” There are fears that the risk is greater in Britain after Brexit if those who want to delay climate action become a stronger voice in government. Lockwood said: “The risk is greater – Britain is outside the EU, we have the same electoral system with places like Canada, Australia, [the] US. “If a more climate-skeptical or hostile faction dominates the Conservative Party, then it will be much more damaging than if it happened in countries in Europe with proportional representation.” However, he believes that the United Kingdom will not necessarily end up in a similar position to other countries with right-wing populist governments. “There is something in the history of the Conservative Party that has made it more resilient to these views than the populists in Australia and the United States,” he said. “Look at how many MPs are on the Conservative Environmental Network – so I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but we’re in danger.”
Slipping back into the climate – countries that have abolished policies
NETHERLANDS 2010 – The populist and climate-skeptical PVV party got its best election result and entered as a junior coalition partner in a center-right government. The scale and ambition of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy targets set by the previous government were reduced and the phasing out of coal remained off the agenda. Norway 2013 – The populist Progress Party enters a minority government. The previous center-left coalition governments had ambitious climate policies, but again the targets for reducing emissions and renewable energy were reduced. The Progress Party has taken over the ministry of oil and energy and issued new drilling permits for oil, including the Arctic for the first time. Denmark 2015 – The center-right Venstre party formed a minority government that had informal support from the populist Danish People’s Party, which garnered 21% of the vote, its best share ever. There has been a setback in emission reduction and renewable energy targets and the goal of phasing out coal set by the previous government has been rejected. Poland 2015 – The populist PiS takes power as the largest party in a coalition government. In her first term, she was hostile to renewable energy, blocking land winds and opposed extending renewable energy targets to EU level. She also blocked the 2050 target for carbon neutrality at the European Council. However, from 2019 the party changed its position on renewable energy sources. Austria 2017 – the populist FPÖ enters as a junior partner in a center-right government. The FPÖ had little impact in the end, but voted against Austria’s accession to the Paris Agreement and against parliament declaring a state of emergency in 2019.
