How the far-right is burning down the planet
- ugnebudriunaite
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 10
Most of us have noticed the unmistakable decrease in excitement around climate action in Europe, compared to the peak hype in 2020 and the introduction of the European Green Deal. While in the past, the politicians could have been criticised for not being ambitious enough and not responding to what scientists and activists say, these days, even these discussions are not happening. Instead, we are experiencing pushback on all the climate agreements and systemic denial of climate change altogether.
Why does the far-right not care about climate?
The right-wing political forces, especially populist far-right movements, are known to advocate for strong national states with a common narrative to “restore the nation's former glory”. The so-called “glory” often refers to both the initiation of discriminatory immigration policies (to “protect” the nation) and strong protection of fossil capital as a way to ensure the economic strength of the country.
Here, it’s obvious that the latter goal to protect and grow the fossil capital directly contradicts with the climate crisis and the need to shift our economies from dependency on fossil fuels. However, the goal of the far-right continues to be the accumulation of profits, with systemic actions in place to undermine the reality of the climate crisis and continue business as usual.
Most often, far-right movements and political leaders choose to either deny or heavily undermine the very existence of climate change; this strategy is clearly visible in the Baltic Sea region and the Nordics, in the discourse of the German Alternative for Germany (AfD), Norway's Progress Party (FrP), Sweden’s Democrats, and many more European right-wing parties, currently sitting in national parliaments. This leads to mass divestment from climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, while continuing and expanding the fossil fuel industry.
Another popular rhetoric is the establishment of the populist “us vs. them” narrative, with “us” representing the traditional nation and “them” referring to all of those threatening the “glory” of the nation, most of the time, minorities. While using this narrative, far-right movements comfortably shift the responsibility of various crises, including climate change, on “them”, encouraging discrimination and even violence against activists and minorities, at the same time shielding the already mentioned fossil capital that still remains the overarching issue.
This strategy was clearly visible in the Dutch farmers' protests back in 2022, where dissatisfaction with new environmental regulations for farmers quickly grew into an anti-immigration movement, targeting immigrants as responsible for the main national crises. Similarly, Sweden’s Democrats (one of the most influential parties in Sweden) are targeting “them”, in this case, climate activists, as a threat, while putting efforts in silencing, increasing penalties and sentencing for peaceful climate action.
How is this affecting the civil society?
One of the biggest direct results of the right-wing governments' rule is the shrinking of civic spaces in Europe. It is a consequence of adopting new budgets in which the share allocated for civil society organisations (CSOs) and climate policies is lower, and implementing a new policy agenda which implicitly limits opportunities for activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to participate, especially in the context of climate action.
The examples are visible all across Europe. In the West, the Dutch government with the Geert Wilders anti-islamic and populist party in the lead, announced that in 2026 the budget for NGOs will fall by over 50% (from 1,4 billion to around €390 to €565 million), support for education will be lowered by €500 million, and the development aid, including climate change will be decreased by €2,4 billion by 2027.
Similarly, there are also examples of such government practices from the Baltic Sea Region. For instance, in March 2024, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency decided to end contracts with over 20 national NGOs and implement new, more competition-based rules about receiving funding. This resulted in the abrupt ending of long-term projects, which is especially damaging for the partners in Global South countries, working on climate and humanitarian aid projects.
Since CSOs are a key for pushing climate transformation, it is not surprising that limiting their ability to act also has a direct effect on achieving climate goals at a country level. Experts from Concord Sweden have highlighted that considering the new agenda of the Swedish government, there is very little chance of seeing any improvement on greenhouse gas emissions indicators in the near future.
Do the EU still want to be the climate mitigation leader?
While the previous section discusses the country-level policies, the right-wing shift is also visible in the European Union (EU) legislation. On the one hand, it was influenced by the Mario Draghi report from September 2024, which strongly urged policymakers that the EU economy needs to become more competitive. On the other hand, with the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Commission also took a new “geopolitical turn” and accelerated the efforts and spending on security measures.
As a consequence of these events, the climate crisis became a much less urgent matter for the EU officials to take care of. Recently, we had a chance to speak with members of the European Parliament and representatives of the Commission in Brussels, and the message we heard was clear. First, the right-wing majority in the EU does not allow for the implementation of ambitious climate policies. Second, the geopolitical situation calls for a different, more strategic approach to climate policies.
What does it mean in reality? One of the most prominent examples is the new Clean Industrial Deal. While in principle, its goal of decarbonisation of industries is important for the green transition in Europe, many NGOs and activists raise criticism about the way it aims to achieve it. For example, while the plan strongly advocates for renewables, it does not address the challenge of lowering energy demand, as well as does not challenge the prominence of gas in the European energy mix.
What can we do?
We guess that you, just like us, feel angry, frustrated and maybe even hopeless, seeing our leaders taking the direction to continue damaging our climate and our future even more. But with, quite literally, our futures at stake, we can’t lose hope, and we can’t stop organising and advocating for climate.
Throughout history, people power has proven to be powerful enough to take down violent regimes, fight for and ensure human rights and advocate for the enormous changes we now wouldn’t imagine our lives without. This fight is no different, with even more at stake.
We have to find strength in ourselves and one another, join and support social movements, workers' unions, campaigns, protests, and demonstrations.
It is a communal crisis, and we have to fight it together.
Authors: Pola Zabuska (Catalysts for Change 2025 participant), Ugnė Budriūnaitė (Project Coordinator at ReGeneration 2030).
ReGeneration 2030 is a democratic and youth-led organisation, mobilising youth climate activists and movements from the Nordic and Baltic Sea region. Want to join us? Fill out a volunteer application form here.
Comments