Recording: The Rise of the Far-Right: From Climate Denial to Eco-Fascism

As part of RUSI’s wider programme exploring Climate Change and in collaboration with RUSI’s Far-Right Extremism and Terrorism (FRET) Programme, this event is the second in a three-part series exploring how the climate movement and environmental activism are reshaping perceptions of ‘eco-terrorism’ and protest.

While the far-right traditionally eschewed the concept of climate change – going as far as to label it a ‘left-wing conspiracy’ – some factions have recently changed tack and embraced the climate crisis to form new narratives. For example, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the far-right in Germany and elsewhere embraced conspiracy narratives that framed the pandemic as a way for governments to normalise future ‘climate lockdowns’. On the other hand, many far-right figures are increasingly portraying the climate crisis as an opportunity to seal borders and take decisive action against the perceived threat of over-population, linking it to concerns about demographic change and using it to justify anti-migrant narratives. Our event explores contemporary and historical examples in which far-right narratives dealt with environmental questions, and discusses the implications these have for the current actions of right-wing extremist groups.

Chair: Claudia Wallner, Research Fellow, Terrorism and Conflict

Dr Kristy Campion, Lecturer in Terrorism Studies, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Dr Balša Lubarda, Teaching Fellow, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania

Paula Matlach, Research Associate, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Germany