Several European leaders are doing like Rishi Sunak and watering down climate policy. They fear that costly environmental measures will give wind in their sails to right-wing populists.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, fears that aggressive climate policy will scare away voters.
The short version
- Several European leaders are watering down their climate policies, fearing giving more support to right-wing populist parties in upcoming European Parliament elections.
- The main argument is that costly climate measures can encourage voters to turn to right-wing populist parties. This led to the postponement of several environmental initiatives.
- Despite this situation, the majority of European politicians are sticking to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, but postponing until later measures that could affect the electorate’s economy.
The summary is created using artificial intelligence (AI) and quality assured by Aftenposten journalists.
Next summer there will be elections to the European Parliament. Leaders of the main political parties fear that the combination of costly climate measures and sharp increases in food prices will give right-wing populists a very good choice.
Roberta Metsola is President of the European Parliament. She says it bluntly in an interview with the Financial Times: The increasingly long list of climate measures scares voters and encourages them to turn to right-wing populist parties.
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