The Coming Ecological Backlash
Loisel, Manon
The Coming Ecological Backlash - 2025.
30
England, Germany, Netherlands, the USA—an increasing number of developed countries have seen the emergence in recent years of popular protests against ecological policies or measures for fighting or adapting to climate change. Those protests have been hijacked by various more or less populist parties. The most emblematic example is probably that of Donald Trump, who focussed a large part of his 2024 campaign on the ecological backlash, which he is now trying to implement. In France, too, this protest movement against transition policies is making itself felt as they are implemented. And with the local elections of March 2026 approaching, it could well serve as a springboard for the extreme Right, always quick to turn popular discontent to its advantage. Are we going to go from a ‘green wave’ (as seen in the 2020 elections) to a ‘brown’ one? That is the question Manon Loisel and Nicolas Rio pose here. Such a risk certainly exists, given that the ecological transition is currently under pressure. But there is no inevitability about this if decision-makers realize that protest is directed not so much against ecological concerns themselves as against the—real or felt—injustice of the measures ensuing from it. The authors call here for a greater awareness of how transition policies are received, so that the coming electoral debates can be an opportunity for renewed collective, democratic discussion on the fairest way for France to adapt to climate change.
The Coming Ecological Backlash - 2025.
30
England, Germany, Netherlands, the USA—an increasing number of developed countries have seen the emergence in recent years of popular protests against ecological policies or measures for fighting or adapting to climate change. Those protests have been hijacked by various more or less populist parties. The most emblematic example is probably that of Donald Trump, who focussed a large part of his 2024 campaign on the ecological backlash, which he is now trying to implement. In France, too, this protest movement against transition policies is making itself felt as they are implemented. And with the local elections of March 2026 approaching, it could well serve as a springboard for the extreme Right, always quick to turn popular discontent to its advantage. Are we going to go from a ‘green wave’ (as seen in the 2020 elections) to a ‘brown’ one? That is the question Manon Loisel and Nicolas Rio pose here. Such a risk certainly exists, given that the ecological transition is currently under pressure. But there is no inevitability about this if decision-makers realize that protest is directed not so much against ecological concerns themselves as against the—real or felt—injustice of the measures ensuing from it. The authors call here for a greater awareness of how transition policies are received, so that the coming electoral debates can be an opportunity for renewed collective, democratic discussion on the fairest way for France to adapt to climate change.
Réseaux sociaux