climate-denialists, a majority of “anti-system activists” from the “anti-vax movement” according to a CNRS researcher

The cold snap that Europe is experiencing has caused an avalanche of climate-sceptical messages on social networks, notably from RN deputy Christophe Barthès, who wrote: “Global warming or climate change ? On January 3, 2024, Sweden recorded the lowest temperatures in 25 years, with -43°C. Lawyer William Goldnadel, also a columnist on CNews, took up the same idea.

Climate denialists in the conspiracy sphere

However, these messages confuse weather and climate change. Scientists have long explained that it is possible to have periods of extreme cold, without this calling into question the fact that in general, it is getting hotter and hotter on earth. For David Chavalarias, researcher at the CNRS, the vast majority of climate denialists are mainly anti-system activists, from the anti-vax movement. “We see that they are not part of the parties [politiques] traditional, but rather rather confidential parties”he adds.

Climate denialists therefore gravitate towards the conspiracy sphere, close to the extreme right for some. The latter have taken over the climate. A divisive discourse, which risks further fracturing French society.