Understanding Europe’s New Right Voters to design climate policies that work for all.
This three-paper research series examines the attitudes, values and policy preferences of voters aligned with New Right political parties across Europe, with the aim of identifying how climate and environmental policies can achieve broader social and political legitimacy. Drawing on representative secondary survey data from Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden, the research compares New Right voters with other electorates, particularly the Centre Right, across climate-specific attitudes and wider political worldviews.
- Paper 1, the Headline Report, brings together the main findings and policy implications from the research programme, providing an overall picture of New Right voters’ attitudes towards climate policy and the broader values and concerns that may shape their responses to it.
- Paper 2 focuses specifically on New Right voters’ attitudes towards climate change and environmental policy, examining levels of concern, perceptions of climate-policy costs and benefits, personal responsibility, and trust in climate messengers.
- Paper 3 examines their broader worldviews, policy preferences and social and political attitudes, including views on immigration and national priority, sovereignty and the European Union, political representation, institutional trust and democratic satisfaction.
Across the three papers, the findings challenge the assumption that New Right voters are uniformly hostile to climate policy. Although they tend to express lower levels of climate concern, greater sensitivity to the costs of climate policies and lower trust in mainstream climate messengers, substantial proportions remain concerned about climate change, recognise some human contribution to it and express a degree of personal responsibility for addressing it. In line with existing research, their broader political outlook is most consistently distinguished by stronger preferences for prioritising nationals in access to resources and services, more negative perceptions of immigration, greater support for national rather than EU-level decision-making, and lower satisfaction with institutions and political actors.
These findings suggest that effective engagement requires more than changes in climate communication alone. Policies are more likely to resonate when they offer visible and credible benefits, including affordability, energy security, domestic industry, employment, economic prosperity and the protection and resilience of local communities. Conversely, policy solutions that require sacrifice, involve higher costs, appeal to moral obligation or EU targets are less likely to gain support. The research therefore points towards a climate policy that is locally grounded, responsive to community concerns, participatory in its design and communicated through trusted local actors.
For additional information about the methodology, data and analysis, please contact Shared Ground’s research team: Olga Poluektova, Research Lead at olga@sharedground.nl, or Lia Chketiani, Research Analyst at lia@sharedground.nl.
