The environment in the crossfire of right-wing politics

A qualitative analysis of environmental policy programs and patterns of argumentation in the Alternative für Deutschland

Abstract

The parallel escalation of ecological crises and the political shift to the right that can be observed across Europe requires a scientific examination of the relationship between right-wing politics and environmental policy issues. This master’s thesis is therefore dedicated to analyzing the environmental policy of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. The aim is to use the following research question to outline the party’s dominant environmental policy positions, identify its patterns of argumentation, and then interpret these in the context of various theoretical interpretations.

(F1) What is the position of the Alternative für Deutschland party on the environment and environmental policy, and what patterns of interpretation can be identified?

To answer this question, several sub-questions will be examined:

(U1) Which issues dominate the AfD's environmental policy agenda?

(U2) What lines of argument does the AfD use in environmental policy?

(U3) How can the AfD's arguments be classified according to patterns of interpretation?

The base for this analysis is formed by the concepts of polycrisis, right-wing populism, climate change skepticism, and fossil fascism.

Methodologically, this was done using qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz and Rädiker. The material consists of the party’s general manifesto and the Bundestag election manifestos from 2021 and 2025. This was supplemented by speeches from Bundestag debates on the Building Energy Act.

The results show that the AfD primarily focuses on energy, climate, and agriculture in its environmental policy. It rejects international climate policy, the energy transition, and decarbonization, and frames environmental policy as a threat to national and individual freedom and economic stability. The AfD uses eleven argumentation strategies that criticize the effectiveness, benefits, and consequences of environmental policy measures or serve to emotionalize and defame political opponents. The interpretative analysis reveals elements of all four concepts to varying degrees. The AfD links environmental policy issues with other crisis discourses, exploits populist antagonism between the people and the elite, expresses various forms of climate change scepticism, and defends fossil fuel structures as part of national identity.