Climate change denial has been found to correlate with sociopolitical ideology. The general aim of the present thesis was to investigate this relation, and more specifically to 1) test the unique effects of intercorrelated ideological variables on denial, and 2) investigate the psychological underpinnings of the ideology-denial relation. This approach helps estimating what component of right-wing ideology better explains climate change denial; resistance to change (indexed by left-right/liberal-conservative political orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and system justification), or acceptance of inequality (indexed by social dominance orientation [SDO]). In Paper I, SDO outperformed the effects of right-wing authoritarianism and political left-right orientation on denial (Study 1 and 2). Further, the SDO-denial relation was stable when denial scores were experimentally lowered by a newscast that communicated supportive evidence for climate change (Study 2). Thus, the following studies focused specifically on the SDO-denial relation by testing path models that also included other ideological variables (political conservatism, system justification, and endorsement of nature dominance), as well as personality variables (dominance, empathy, openness to experience, and anxiety avoidance) and/or gender. In Paper II, SDO and endorsement of nature dominance explained unique parts of climate change denial, and both of these variables mediated the effects of system justification and (low) empathy on denial. SDO mediated also the effect of dominance. In Paper III, focusing specifically on denial of human-induced climate change, SDO either partially or fully mediated the effects of political conservatism and gender across two cultural contexts (Brazil and Sweden). Additional analyses extended these results, by building on the model presented in Paper II. These analyses showed that SDO (and in some cases also political conservatism and endorsement of nature dominance) fully mediated the effects of gender and personality variables on denial, with one exception: Predisposition to avoid experiencing anxiety predicted denial directly, as well as through a link via general conservative ideology (system justification or political conservatism). In sum, the results indicate that denial is more strongly and consistently predicted by SDO than by the other included variables. Thus, endorsement of group-based inequality/hierarchies offers an important explanation for climate change denial.

Can nudging promote sustainable consumption behaviour? This study investigates if nudging promotes more environmentally-friendly purchases when applying either a default option or adding a product to elicit the attraction effect in a consumption situation of electronic products. The study further investigates sustainable consumption behaviour by looking at political orientation and the degree of climate change denial. The results show that nudging can promote significantly more environmentally-friendly purchases. The attraction effect was found to have positive effects, but not the default option. A higher proportion of environmentally-friendly purchases was further carried out by participants having a lower denial towards climate change. Climate change denial was also correlated with political orientation; participants evaluating themselves as right-wing oriented showed higher climate change denial, and proceeded with less sustainable purchases. Despite identifying positive effects of nudging on sustainable consumption behaviour, data also indicate an interaction effect between nudging and the sequenced presentation order of condition. This can be interpreted as a carry-over effect moderating the effect of nudging when it is presented after a control condition. This moderating effect is discussed as a potential limitation of nudging as a tool to affect people’s behaviour.

This dissertation analyzes the case of organized climate change denial in the United States as a manifestation of the power of the policy planning and opinion shaping networks in the US. It uses a variety of power structure research techniques to put together a topographical study of a fossil fuels network sitting at the core of a wider conservative network which sits at the core of the policy planning and opinion shaping processes. The connections between the core fossil fuels network and wider conservative policy network are examined at length. Using climate change denial as the case allows for the study of how a distinct industry— fossil fuels—can organize a faction which can help set the ideological agenda of the wider corporate and conservative networks. A power elite theoretical approach outlined by Domhoff is used, and the conclusions that may be drawn from this case study support the usefulness of that approach. I also find that the case at hand illustrates how Domhoff’s model may be extended and augmented in light of the strategic and tactical innovations employed by those in the climate change denial faction. Although elites have often tried—with varying levels of success—to employ at least a veneer of populist support in formulating policy, climate change denial employs a new level of sophistication in then fossil fuels’ faction’s long-term strategic planning and investment. This faction’s ability to wrest ideological control of much of the tea party movement and bring that party's policy aims into lie with its own allowed for the addition of a powerful populist element to the climate change denial tactical repertoire. Similarly, new secrecy techniques go far beyond those used by elites in the past, reflecting a new set of needs on the part of the individuals and groups involved in the policy network and necessitating the augmentation of the existing network with specialized entities.

Climate change as a global phenomenon threatens human rights and causes social injustices. This thesis examines the genealogies of climate justice discourse and climate change denial discourse in the context of international climate change politics. The aim is to understand the construction of and the correlation between the discourses and how the discourses relate to human rights. The thesis employs discourse analysis with a conception of climate justice and a neoclassical realist theory applied to climate change politics. Climate justice discourse is found to interact with chiefly moral and political terms, whereas the denial discourse interacts mainly with economic and scientific terms. Consequently, there is a lack of interaction between the discourses as they operate in different levels of communication and it has, to some extent, caused stalemate in climate change politics. Additionally, while climate justice discourse makes use of the human rights framework, the denial discourse undermines it.

"Most people don't mind global warming": Climate change denial in Czech politics between the years 2018 - 2021 This thesis deals with the topic of climate change denial in contemporary Czech politics. It aims to describe how the narrative of climate change denial is formed and reproduced. The first part captures the origins and the background of climate change scepticism in both Czech and international context with the special stress laid upon ideology. Based on the critical discourse analysis of the rhetorics of Alexandr Vondra, Jan Zahradník, Václav Klaus Jr., and Tomio Okamura, the second part of this paper aims to contribute by unravelling the key symptoms of climate change denial discourse of the above mentioned politicians as well as the dominant frames and discursive strategies used to deny both the anthropogenic climate change and the climate change politics. The last goal of the analysis is to describe in what aspects the linguistic means of selected right-wing populists differ or intertwine with the language of right-wing conservatives. Keywords: climate change denial, right-wing populism, climate policy, discourse, rhetorics

In many instances, television news is the primary outlet through which people gain knowledge on climate change. Both the perceived threat of climate change and American news media have grown politically divided since the 1980s. I make the argument that American news media influences the partisan divide over climate change. In addition to the political landscape of news media, focus on political events and figures in climate coverage further contributes to a partisan divide. Supporting these claims are research displaying how climate change news is processed in a partisan manner and a selection of three case study periods in which climate change coverage spiked among MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News in the last twenty years (2000-2019). I collected news footage from all three case studies using the online database archive.org. Using this footage, an accompanying documentary short was produced that focused on the Paris Climate Accord Withdrawal in 2017. Presented in the documentary and the three case study periods, Fox News held a consistently hands-off and dismissive tone towards climate change, while MSNBC and CNN implemented climate science into coverage while advocating for collective climate action. I report that media is selected and processed via partisanship among viewers; these case studies illustrate the ways in which news media drives the political divide on climate change. I conclude by offering some future ways climate coverage can be more unifying, such as more emphasis on the economic benefits of “a green economy” in news coverage.

Foreign policy of Trump's administration: Withdrawal from the Paris Accord through the lens of two-level game theory Abstract Foreign policy of President Donald Trump has been a point of enquiry of many scholars so far. In the literature, we can observe a great diversity in opinions that attempt to explain his motivations in certain specific foreign policy actions. The main focus of this diploma thesis is laid on the withdrawal from international treaties, namely the Paris Accord from 2015. In this idiographic case study, we utilize the theory of two-level games by Robert Putnam which enables us to analyze the link between the domestic level of the decision to withdraw the international treaty. By identifying veto players in the U.S. political system, more concretely in its environmental policies, we were able to uncover the underlying notions behind the decision. Veto players in our case were the Congress with Republican and Democratic party, electoral impetus covering the general public opinion and new actors entering the public debate (private companies and states). Alternatively, we described the President's and his administration distinctive motivations. The thesis provides a new insight into the politics of the decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord. As per our findings, the electoral impetus is...

Climate change denial is a widely spread phenomenon in the United States that has for decades shaped the country's response to the numerous environmental challenges it has been facing. This thesis deals with the role of the American fossil fuels lobby in the analyzed matter, as it constituted the main force behind its rise. The main goal of the thesis is to prove that the success of the climate change denial orchestrated by the fossil fuels industry was enabled by its ties to the political establishment. Moreover, it argues that this was done by using professionally drafted strategies, which turned a once-widely-accepted fact - backed by a scientific consensus - into a matter of debate, opinion, politics, ideology, and identity. In order to do that, the thesis firstly covers the historical development of the climate debate in the United Sates. It looks at the major milestones in the country's approach in dealing with the problem of the environment as well as the emergence of the climate change denial campaign itself. Secondly, it analyzes the various connections between U.S. politics, special interests, and climate science from the 1970s until the end of the George W. Bush Administration. Next, it introduces the specific tactics and methods employed by the climate change denial campaign. Moreover,...

The essay To negotiate truth is a cultural analytical study of the boundary work that takes place in the comment sections, more specifically in relations to the climate change debate and Greta Thunberg’s climate activism. This paper deals with empirical material in the form of comments obtained from the Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet’s and Expressen’s comment field on Facebook. The data-gathering method used for this paper is digital ethnography. This study aims to create an understanding of how argumentation is presented in open social arenas such as Expressen and Aftonbladet's comments field. The purpose of the study has been to show how the contested claims and facts are legitimized and negotiated in the comment fields. The theoretical framework has consisted of discourse theory and Boundary objects theory. The questions to be answered in the study is: In what way is truth constructed in the debate? How are the various claims of truth legitimized? In what way are facts and science used in the legitimization of the different claims of truths? The analysis shows that truth is constructed in many different ways, partly through what i choose to call denial and distrust discourse. The analysis also showed how climate research and the climate can be seen as a boundary object and be used to stabilize the denial discourse further. The result also showed that scientific evidence can be used in a variety of ways in the legitimization of the different claims of truth. On the one hand, there is a demand for more nuanced research to be presented in the media, this creates an image that there are two sides of climate science that are of equal importance. The analysis also showed how mistrust and doubt against established media, political processes and science in general can be used in the legitimization of various statements of truth. I also claim that Greta can be seen as a boundary object in the ongoing negotiation. The use of religious metaphors also proves to be of great importance in trying to undermine the climate issue and climate research in general.

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