Narratives on the Distributional Impact of Climate Policy Can Fuel Populism

Populist parties use narratives about social injustice to portray climate policy as elite-driven and socially unjust. This study— based on a survey experiment with some 1,600 participants— examines how three common narratives about the costs associated with climate policy affect populist and climate-populist attitudes. The results show that the narrative highlighting the disproportionate burden on low-income households fuels climate-populist attitudes and undermines trust in democracy. This effect is particularly pronounced among women and low-income households as well as eastern German and conservative voter segments. The narrative portraying climate policy as harmful to the German economy, on the other hand, resonates most strongly with right-leaning voters, while the narrative claiming that businesses are failing to take responsibility was found to fuel climate-populist attitudes primarily among male, eastern German, and left-leaning voters. Overall, the impact of narratives depends on a person’s individual circumstances and prior political experiences. Socially just and transparently communicated policies, however, can enhance public support for climate policy and help prevent populist exploitation.