International | It’s not easy being green

The global backlash against climate policies has begun

Cost, convenience and conspiracy-mongering undercut support for greenery

An illustration showing three silhouetted faces with their mouths open and a speech bubble containing a scribbled out recycling sign.
Image: Jared Bartman
|Amsterdam, Delhi, Mackinac Island and São Paulo

“We need to be good stewards of our planet. But that doesn’t mean I need to do away with my gas vehicle and drive an electric vehicle with a battery from China,” said Kristina Karamo, the chair of the Republican Party in Michigan, on September 22nd. America’s Democrats, she warned, are trying to “convince us that if we don’t centralise power in the government, the planet is gonna die. That seems like one of the biggest scams [since] Darwinian evolution.”

Explore more

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The anti-climate backlash begins”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Illustration of a person leaning on a table with a red tie and orange-toned hands. In front are small American and Chinese flags on a table.

“Tariffers” v “traders”: the new contest for Donald Trump’s ear

Eye-witnesses to the drama of the first Trump presidency brace for the sequel

Special Investigation Police, conducting a citywide anti-gang operation, raid a house in the Barrio Abajo district where gang members are believed to be residing

The world is losing the fight against international gangs

Globalisation and technological progress are leading to a boom in organised crime


COP29 UNFCCC Climate Conference In Baku

Half a loaf, at best, from the climate talks

This year’s negotiations made very modest progress


Is your master’s degree useless?

New data show a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money

The perils of appeasing a warlike Russia

Finland’s cold-war past offers urgent lessons for Ukraine’s future

The danger zone between two presidents

The world’s bad actors will relish any power vacuum