HÖGERPOPULISM OCH KLIMATFÖRNEKANDE En kvantitativ studie av sverigedemokrater och synen på människans roll i klimatförändringarna

Abstract

In recent years, the debate on climate change has increased. Scientists agree that climate change is caused by human activities, and that action should be taken as soon as possible. Yet, there are individuals, and political parties that deny the role of humans in climate change. Previous research is fairly unanimous that right-wing populists are generally more skeptical about the role of humans in climate change. This paper investigates what potential explanations there are for this relationship in the Swedish context. Using a quantitative statistical survey of public opinion in Sweden, supporters of the Swedish Democrats are examined using data from the 2020 SOM survey. The results show that Sweden Democrats deny the role of humans in climate change to a greater extent than other party sympathizers. The results also show that social media is not an explanation for this connection. However, the study shows that there is support that institutional distrust could be an explanation for the relationship, which could be due to right- wing populists' tendencies towards conspiratorial worldviews. This study highlights the importance of not viewing right-wing populists as a homogeneous group in which all are climate deniers. However, since this group is generally skeptical of the role of humans in climate change, it is important to find explanations for this relationship in order to prevent misinformation.