Climate and Populism

As kids worldwide strike for action on climate change, James and Tom take a look at a group who doesn’t share their sense of urgency: Europe’s far right. The UK Independence Party has a long history of denying climate science while Marine Le Pen of the French National Rally uses global warming to whip up fears about mass arrivals of refugees. In Hungary, the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban broadly accepts the need to reduce emissions but does little to contribute to reaching that goal. The picture can vary markedly from country to country as a recent report by Adelphi, a German research organisation, demonstrates. Click here for Adelphi’s deep dive mapping climate agendas of right-wing populist parties in Europe. We also take another listen to our interview from December with Bas Eickhout, the Dutch green who’s vying for a top job in Brussels. Eickhout shares his thoughts on the far-right's climate record and he talks about the bungled tax on fuel that helped spark the huge yellow vests protests in France. Please check out the EU Scream website for episode art and more. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Airside No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. Support the show