Green backlash and right-wing populism

Abstract

This Review delves into the politics of climate policy, specifically focusing on the so-called green backlash—that is, rising resistance from voters, parties and governments to the climate transition. We present a narrative review of the literature on the political consequences of climate policies, highlighting the presence of backlash among citizens negatively affected by decarbonization efforts. Populist right forces emerge as the primary beneficiaries of the backlash as they tend to be more sceptical regarding anthropogenic climate change and less supportive of climate policies. In turn, their electoral success has negative implications for countries’ climate policymaking and performance. Finally, we draw insights from the literature to reflect on what can be done to improve the political sustainability of climate policies. This Review considers research on the politics of climate policies. Climate policies, through their economic and cultural repercussions, impact public climate attitudes and voting behaviour, which in turn affect election outcomes and future policies.