Religious Narratives in Populist Climate Skepticism: Speeches on Climate Policy of the AfD in the German Bundestag

This contribution presents the results of a content analysis of climate policy statements by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in plenary debates of the German Bundestag in the 19th and 20th legislative period (2017-2024). The examination reveals a discourse strategy of the party in which climate-skeptic positions, i.e. positions that negate anthropogenic climate change and reject climate protection measures, are embedded in religious narratives. This includes, in particular, the claim that the established parties have submitted to a 'climate religion', which is portrayed in different variations as unscientific, fundamentalist, sectarian or medieval. The narrative form of the 'climate religion' metaphor reflects a classic right-wing populist discourse strategy in which, among other things, a Manichean antagonism between 'good' and 'evil' and a particular anti-elitism become visible.