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Backlash against green energy infrastructure: Experimental survey evidence from France, Germany, Norway, and the UK
Status: This talk is in preparation - details may change
Status: This talk has been cancelled
As climate mitigation measures become deeper and more ambitious, the distributional effects of the green transition become more pronounced. This increases the potential for green backlash, which existing work has documented for specific policies (such as congestion charges, car-free zones, or carbon taxes) and large renewable energy infrastructure (such as onshore or offshore wind installations). Here, we examine the public support for energy infrastructure that has so far been understudied but plays a pivotal role in the clean energy transition: large scale solar parks, hydrogen plants, and battery factories. Drawing on bespoke surveys in France, Germany, Norway, and the UK, we study three distinct aspects of public opinion: first, the public acceptance of these types of green infrastructure as a function of distinct project characteristics, including transfers to local communities; second, the conditions under which electoral backlash arises when citizens’ expectations around project development are frustrated; and, third, how this backlash against green infrastructure varies by subgroup. This paper contributes individual-level evidence from four large European economies to a growing literature on green backlash and helps us understand conditions of geographically clustered political opposition to green infrastructure investments needed for addressing the climate emergency.
Date:
2 December 2025, 17:00
Venue:
St Antony's College - North Site
Venue Details:
Seminar Room, European Studies Centre, 70 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HR
Speaker:
Patrick Bayer (University of Glasgow)
Organising department:
European Studies Centre
Organiser:
Julie Adams (St Antony's College, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
julie.adams@sant.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Federica Genovese (St Antony’s College, Oxford)
Part of:
European Studies Seminar
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Julie Adams
