Contentious Environmental Politics? The Environmental Attitudes of Italians Under the European Green Deal

Similar to other Southern European countries, Italy is among the most vulnerable not only to the environmental impacts of climate change, but also to the associated social and economic challenges. While these issues have not traditionally been at the top of the country’s political agenda, the European Union’s green transition agenda—accelerated within the framework of the European Green Deal—has necessitated multiple policy reforms aimed at decarbonization, while simultaneously addressing economic growth and social justice. Recent studies have highlighted how significant tensions and trade-offs between economic, social, and environmental priorities are reflected in public opinion across many European countries. However, a nuanced understanding of how economic, political, and other contextual factors shape climate attitudes remains largely missing. Additionally, little is known about whether, and to what extent, domestic environmental and climate concerns correlate with opinions on EU competences and powers in shaping environmental and climate policies. The proposed paper seeks to address these gaps by analyzing the case of Italy. Based on original public opinion data, we investigate whether and how public attitudes toward potentially competing social, environmental and economic goals vary according to a range of individual and contextual factors, as well as individuals’ propensity to support EU policy-making competences and powers in the field of climate policy.