Predicted effects of political orientation on belief in anthropogenic climate change among politicians and citizens. Credit: Communications Sustainability (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s44458-026-00113-y
It is no surprise that there are political disagreements over climate protection measures. Parties differ in their assessments of which measures they consider effective, fair or economically acceptable. However, the question of whether climate change is mainly human-caused is not a matter of political preference but a well-documented scientific fact.
An international study involving researchers from the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz now shows that agreement with this fact not only depends strongly on one's political orientation. The ideological divide among elected representatives is significantly wider than in the general population. On the political fringes, in particular, politicians' views diverge from those of their constituents. The work is published in the journal Communications Sustainability.
After analyzing statements by 714 elected representatives and more than 18,000 residents of eight countries, researchers concluded: "Politicians have significantly more polarized views on climate change. In concrete terms, this means that the difference between the positions of left- and right-wing representatives is almost three times greater than the difference between the views of left- and right-wing voters," explains Johannes Kotz, first author of the study and an academic staff member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Konstanz.
