By Frank Wouters, Chairman at the MENA Hydrogen Alliance
“It’s the economy, stupid” is a catchphrase coined by James Carville, a strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful campaign in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. It means that the primary concern of American voters is the state of the American economy, and how the economy affects their personal finances. This year, the Americans pulled out of the Paris Agreement a second time, and they didn’t send a delegation to COP30 in Belem. Others around the world are using this momentum to slow down climate action and are finding excuses why that makes sense. A favourite argument is that climate action is too expensive, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Emissions come at substantial cost to the world, but since we do not price them, we need very creative business cases to make things work in the current economic fabric we take for granted.
But is it true that people only care about the economy and not the climate? Hard to say since, according to the Economist Group, most people live in non-democratic countries. But even the 45% of the global population that lives in democracies and can influence their governments do not necessarily support their chosen governments in everything. Many Americans, if not most, support climate action and renewable energy.
Let’s look at Switzerland, which has a system of referendums, a core component of its direct democracy. In 2023, almost 60% of Swiss voters backed plans to reach net zero by 2050 and put that target into law. A decisive trigger was the melting of glaciers in the Swiss Alps, which lost one-third of their volume between 2001 and 2022, as evidence of the need for climate action. The bill pledges financial support of two billion Swiss francs (US$2.31 billion) over the course of a decade to support households replacing gas and oil heating systems with greener alternatives. A total of 1.2 billion francs ($1.34 billion) over six years is also reserved for businesses investing in climate-friendly technology.
With rapid and growing evidence of climate chaos all over the world, I believe the popular vote will turn towards more climate action and away from shorter-term other priorities. More and more people get it, even if their government doesn’t.