The sharp rise of far-right populist movements in the European elections next May could threaten EU actions to combat climate change, according to a report by Adelphi, a German think tank, presented on Wednesday 27 February at a breakfast organised by Jo Leinen (S&D, Germany).
"The study impressively demonstrates that right-wing populism is not only a threat to democracy, the rule of law and individual freedom, but could also compromise the multilateral fight against climate change", the MEP said.
In concrete terms, the report initially concludes that the programmes of right-wing populist parties rarely cover climate policy. When this is the case, the position expressed is relatively simplistic or underdeveloped.
Then, according to Adelphi, of the 21 right-wing populist parties from 21 Member States analysed, seven deny the scientific consensus on climate change and its causes. Eleven others have no clear position on the subject or present inconsistent, sometimes ambiguous points of view, without openly rejecting the majority scientific discourse on climate.
Among the former group of parties, the German AfD and the British UKIP are the most explicitly climate-change-deniers, going so far as to spread false information denying climate change.
The second group includes the French Rassemblement national, the Italian Lega, and the Polish PiS.
Through an analysis of the results of the votes in the European Parliament, the study also shows that the majority of right-wing populist parties oppose the EU's climate and energy policy proposals, backing their climate sceptical rhetoric with concrete action.
Two thirds of MEPs in these parties thus regularly vote in to that end, and half of the votes against climate and energy transition resolutions come from right-wing populist parties.
Finally, on the basis of current surveys and their analysis of electoral behaviour, Adelphi notes that the influence of right-wing populist parties in the Parliament is likely to increase. Such a situation would lead to the strengthening and development of the bloc voting against EU policies to combat climate change.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2XtNhZe. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot - intern)