Who Owns the Environment?

In most countries today, trust in the political establishment is either at, or close to, an all-time low. And climate change is often impacting national policy in unpredictable ways. Mainstream consensus on the real threat of climate change has raised the question of how to slow or contain its long-term effects.

Could this be fertile ground for a new era of Green politics? Research from Ipsos shows that the answer to this question depends heavily on where you look.

A new white paper takes us on a tour of Green party politics in 8 countries around the world to assesses their relative strength or weakness in each context.

As it appears that a general increase in concern about climate-related issues is not necessarily driving up voter intent for the Greens, the paper explores why this might be.

It claims that while we may understand a vote for the Greens as bring a vote for the environment, the data shows that there are many shades of green.

Furthermore, Green political leaders face very real challenges from more established centre-left parties that can and do co-opt green issues into their policies. This presents a major strategic choice around where to position themselves between addressing voter concerns and adopting a more mainstream approach.