TRUE OR FALSE. Who are the new climate skeptic politicians?

The Argentinian Javier Milei and the Dutch Geert Wilders won an election in recent weeks. Among their common points is their speech on global warming. The two men campaigned by promoting climate skeptic speeches, against the scientific consensus. On its electoral manifesto, the party of Geert WildersTHE PVVmade an even more radical speech about minimizing global warming. “We have been afraid of climate change for decades. (…) We must stop being afraid. The Netherlands is a smart country. We have the best hydraulic engineers in the world”we read.

Engineers to counter global warming is a classic rhetoric of new forms of climate skepticism. “We try to minimize the importance of what is happening or the causes. More than climate skepticism strictly speaking, we will see the emergence of discourses such as technosolutionism”explains Albin Wagener, researcher in discourse analysis, author of Blablabla, put an end to climate chatter.

Slow down decision making

In the United States, the hero of climate skepticism, Donald Trump, is no longer president, but this type of speech remains close to power. One of his staunch supporters, Mike Johnson, was elected speaker of the House of Representatives last October. It is supported by oil and gas groups. He also contests the role of fossil fuels in global warming.

What consequences on the environmental agreements? These divergent voices alone have the capacity to slow down the decisions taken within the framework of the COPs, according to François Gemenne, president of the Scientific Council of the Foundation for Nature and Man.