The far right is opportunistic

As climate breakdown becomes undeniable, they will exploit climate anxieties to push an agenda of hate. This isn’t someone else’s problem – far-right ideas can take hold in our own groups and movements. The narratives below normalise far-right framings and legitimise oppression, sowing seeds for more dangerous futures – ecofascist or otherwise. We have to expose far-right talking points and leave no room for co-option in our messaging.

Here are some of their common talking points.

Overpopulation

The far right claims there are too many people for the Earth to support. This often leads to calls for reducing Global South populations. In mainstream climate groups, this idea can show up with comments like “there are just too many of us” or “birth control is a climate solution”. Remember that areas with higher birth rates or population aren’t responsible for the highest consumption – a billionaire’s carbon footprint is a million times the global average.

Migration

The far right claims borders protect the environment. Migrants, they say, are less able to care for nature and increase pressure on local ecology. Ecofascists also argue that we must act on climate to avoid migration. In mainstream groups, this can show up as discussions of a “migrant crisis” which don’t focus on the experiences of displaced people, or ideas of climate action being the remit of “civilised” countries.

Authoritarianism

The far right thrives in times of crisis, offering a strong leader to “protect the nation” – and in doing so crank up the oppression of minorities. This shows up in mainstream groups as appeals to the police, government or monarchy to suspend democracy to enforce climate measures on people in Britain and around the world.

Save our children

The far right claims the “white race” (symbolised by white children) is under attack. By claiming victimhood, the far right hides the overwhelming responsibility of rich countries and casts those most affected as the perpetrators. If you hear a lot of discussion about “saving our children” in your group, remember that people in the Global South (and marginalised communities in the North) are already dying – and have been for centuries of colonisation, extraction, air pollution, and police violence.

Purity

For the far right, “nature” is correlated with “purity”. They see People of Colour as “polluting white bloodlines”, and LGBTQ+ and disabled people as unnatural or impure. The idea of “pristine nature” is used to justify evicting Indigenous people from their lands for conservation projects. Purity narratives often show up in mainstream climate groups as a refusal to engage with “other issues” – insisting on climate-only messaging that doesn’t complicate the narrative.

Collapse

Some on the far right dream of an apocalyptic “survival of the fittest” scenario and may believe such collapse is inevitable. If someone says “catastrophic warming is locked in – all we can do is adapt”, remind them that many we care about aren’t able to do so.

So how do we fight this co-option of our movement?

The far right shifts blame onto marginalised people (especially migrants and peoAs Textple in the Global South) in order to justify further oppression as a solution. It is essential to recognise that it is these same systems of violence that created the climate crisis in the first place. Unconstrained fossil fuel extraction and combustion would not be possible, for instance, without the racism that treats those most impacted as disposable. Justice is not a distraction from the issue: it is the issue – and the one thing the far right cannot co-opt.

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