The Green and the Populist: A Comparative Analysis of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populist Approaches to Climate Politics

As climate action advances from commitment to contested implementation, populist movements have emerged as pivotal actors, framing decarbonization as a central site of political struggle. This paper argues that left-wing and right-wing populism engage with climate politics in fundamentally divergent ways, driven by their core ideological constructions of "the people" versus "the elite." Right-wing populism typically adopts a nationalist and sceptical stance, framing climate policy as an elitist project that threatens national sovereignty, traditional industries, and the livelihoods of the "common people." In contrast, left-wing populism tends to embrace an anti-capitalist and justice-oriented approach, constructing climate action as a struggle against a corrupt corporate and political elite, advocating for a just transition that addresses socio-economic inequalities. The paper hypothesizes that the relative "success" of each approach—measured by its ability to mobilize electoral support, influence policy, and shape public discourse—is contingent on the specific political economy and pre-existing socio-political cleavages of a given context. To test this proposition, the analysis employs a comparative case study design. First, it examines the United States, where right-wing populism (exemplified by the Trump-led Republican Party) has successfully weaponized climate scepticism, framing regulations as attacks on American freedom and energy dominance, often sidelining left-populist Green New Deal narratives. Second, it investigates Spain, where the left-populist party Podemos has been more influential, integrating climate justice into its anti-austerity platform and forming governing coalitions that have advanced ambitious decarbonization targets, while right-populist Vox dismisses such policies as economically destructive. The findings suggest that right-wing populism is often more immediately successful in blocking or rolling back climate policies in contexts of high carbon dependency and strong cultural polarization. Conversely, left-wing populism can be more effective in building broad coalitions for proactive, if contested, transition policies in societies where inequality is a more salient cleavage than national identity. The paper concludes that understanding these divergent populist pathways is crucial for predicting the political durability of the net-zero transition in an era of geopolitical competition and domestic backlash.