2024 | Tim Wappenhans, António Valentim, Heike Klüver and Lukas F. Stoetzer

Do extreme weather events spur political action on climate change?

The intensifying frequency of extreme weather events, from catastrophic wildfires to devastating floods, underscores the urgent need for climate policy leadership. In a recent study, we test the assumption that these events spur political action on environmental issues.

We examined over 260,000 press releases from 68 political parties across nine European countries spanning 2010-2020. We wanted to understand whether exposure to extreme weather events leads political parties to talk more about environmental issues. Our findings? Beyond a fleeting uptick from Green parties, there is no consistent shift in the attention paid to environmental policies. These findings hold across the political spectrum, event type or whether parties are in government or opposition. This suggests the consequences of climate change might not directly increase political attention.

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Photo:
1 – Sveta K / pexels / Flooded road section.