From denial to domestication: Unpacking Italy’s right-wing approach to climate migration and security

The rise to power of right-wing political formations in numerous countries opens new questions on how they relate to the climate emergency. Now that outright climate denial has become a residual position, the intersection of climate change, migration, and security might prove a litmus test of how the right wing ‘digests’ climate change. And indeed, while humanitarian narratives portray ‘climate refugees’ as victims deserving protection, the spectre of a ‘climate exodus’ has been mobilised also to justify border militarisation and reinforce racial lines.

Aiming to advance debates on climate migration, security and political ecologies of the right, we examine the articulation of ’climate migration’ in the Italian political landscape, a case made particularly relevant given the ruling right-wing coalition and its track-record of anti-migration rhetoric and policies.

Drawing on a qualitative analysis of parliamentary debates, electoral programs, social media feeds, and other sources, we show that the Italian right, rather than waiving the spectre of a climate exodus, has been attempting a ‘domestication’ of climate change, taming the debate on the impacts of global warming and reducing it to a domestic matter. These findings, while underscoring the need for situated and nuanced understandings of how political actors address the climate crisis in relation to security and borders, also highlight the danger that right wing formations, on top of responding to the climate emergency by pushing explicit forms of eco-fascism or ecobordering, can resort to less spectacularised repertoires that aim at blocking climate action while still pursing anti-migrant and racist agendas. This research thereby not only sheds light on the Italian case but also contributes to broader discussions on climate security and the diverse responses of right-wing political formations to the climate emergency.