Europeans’ climate consciousness: Increased yet more politicised

As climate change became more important to voters and political parties in the late 2010s in Europe, this paper asks whether aspects of public opinion on the issue also became more politicised, in the sense of being more closely linked to either party-family vote choice or left–right identity. We consider change from Wave 8 (2016–17) to Wave 10 (2020–22) of the European Social Survey (ESS). Climate consciousness increased overall, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Politicisation of climate change increased mostly in Western Europe, where climate consciousness increased more on the left, and for left-wing party voters, than on the right. The Populist-Right party family, as a group, was distinctive in the relative stability of climate consciousness among their voters. Our results show increased politicisation of climate change attitudes within Western European countries, but also convergence between polities of the East and West at higher levels of climate consciousness.