Unveiling green discontent: an in-depth exploration of citizens’ perceptions of climate policies in peripheral areas

In face of the climate crisis, democratic governments grapple with the dual challenge of formulating ambitious policies while garnering public support. This intricate task is compounded by the critical role played by the territory, serving both as a space for implementing environmental policies and a scale for expressing citizens' dissatisfaction with them. When it comes to the low-carbon transition, there is in fact a popular belief that people living outside major urban centres would be less concerned and less likely to support the adoption of climate change mitigation policies. As a matter of fact, recent studies underscore the potential heterogenous impacts of climate policies on diverse individuals and locales, posing a risk of rising “green discontent”, while recent movements like the Gilets Jaunes demonstrate the actual peril of escalating discontent from so-called “peripheral places”. Despite these challenges, characterizing citizen perceptions of climate policies – and drivers of opposition in these territories – remains elusive. This paper builds upon existing literature on attitudes towards climate policies, the just transition, and the geography of discontent. It posits the necessity for a nuanced understanding of the dimensions of green discontent, particularly outside major urban centres. While some studies suggest a center-periphery divide in support for expensive climate policies (Arndt et al., 2022), most research relies on quantitative studies offering a restricted perspective on the underlying reasons for discontent. They usually rely on survey analyses and a limited exploration of mostly material drivers of discontent. This article aims to enhance the (spatial) analysis of attitudes towards climate policies by shedding light on various factors contributing to resistance towards the transition. Relying on fieldwork conducted in “peripheral” France in 2023, which includes approximately 40 in-depth interviews with very diverse citizens in different places, it highlights the need to go beyond material reasons for discontent. It argues that symbolic, behavioural, and socio-cultural dimensions must also be considered, as well as a more systematic political resentment, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of public sentiment – and drivers of resistance – in peripheral places. This contribution, based on doctoral research, provides a comprehensive examination of the reception of climate policies, adopting a spatial and qualitative methodology seldom utilized in such academic work. It will especially explain the place-based foundations of green discontent and call for a renewed approach to the “just transition”, taking into consideration the plurality of drivers of conflicts and avenues for a more integrated approach to the transition.