As published in the Volume 2(1) of Ramjas Poltical Review
Abstract
The ‘Anthropocene’ is a new term that has been popularised in the modern lexicon, delineating the debilitating impact of human activity on the Earth’s natural processes. As the planet becomes increasingly calamitous with rising global temperatures, melting glaciers, and hazardous water bodies, which have led to exponential biodiversity losses, nation-states are slowly waking up to the menacing and unpredictable natural risks that have the potential to undermine human activity for sustenance. The essay, therefore, seeks to establish the relationship between the forces of nationalism and climate action — and examine the need for nationalism to tackle climate change. Primary scholarship on the subject has been analysed and examined to underscore the states wherein, the forces of “Green Nationalism” have pushed the climate agenda, as well as states wherein it has taken a pessimistic turn to ‘Resource Nationalism’ that has undermined environmental action. Therefore, the question that this article seeks to answer is whether the efficacy of nationalism is pertinent to alleviating the climate crisis that has defined the era of the Anthropocene.
Keywords: Climate Change, Climate Action, Green Nationalism, Anthropocene
Introduction
The upheaval in the post-COVID world led to the word ‘Anthropocene’ gaining renewed prominence. The term, constituting of ‘Anthropo’ for “man” and ‘Cene’ for “new”, is used to describe a new planetary epoch in which humans are the key players in shaping the Earth’s biogeophysical composition (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000). The era has been described as one of human excesses, as the intervention has fundamentally altered the planet’s natural processes, with the Earth becoming increasingly unpredictable and volatile after the stability of the Holocene Era. This has led to increasing calls for action by multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Environmental Programme (which was instrumental in setting up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Economic Forum (WEF), amongst others, for countries to lead the global climate mitigation efforts. Despite the need for unified action and collaboration across the globe for mitigation efforts, nationalism is expected to become a key factor in determining the trajectory that the fight against climate change is to take.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the rise of nationalism has taken hold in recent years across the globe, with Hindutva in India, the fight for ‘Britain First’ in the United Kingdom (UK), right-wing nationalism in Europe, and the Trumpism era that gave birth to the cry of ‘Make America Great Again’ in the United States (Mehta, 2024). Nationalism has strengthened its tentacles in the multifarious nation-states; the spectre of one’s national identity is, ironically, the only thing that has unified all the countries across the globe. Therefore, it is safe to say, in the words of Prasenjit Duara, that ‘nationalism is at the heart of all the (environmental) crises in the modern world and becomes entangled in its effects’ (Duara, 2021), and that the resulting climate action in countries, especially in Europe, serves as a reminder that a nationalistic lens is the most efficient way to fight the transcendent effects of climate change.
Nationalism and the Left Wing in Europe: The Fight for Climate Justice
The subsequent analysis of left-wing nationalism as a form of climate action will benefit from an analysis of Green Nationalism that has emerged in European countries, particularly in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Emerging as a positive and urgent response to the climate crisis in multiple political systems, Green Nationalism is defined as an “evolving concept” that uses “nationalistic sentiments and identity politics as a force for proactive environmental governance and climate justice” (Smith, 2019). Taking pride in the environment and recognising its corresponding importance to one’s identity and existence lies at the core of this endeavour to staunchly advocate for suitable measures for the conservation of a country’s natural resources, which has consequently led to the rise of several Green parties entering into national governments, including the Latvian Green Party in Latvia, which gave the world its first green party Prime Minister in 2004 (McBride, 2022).
The ‘Environmental Turn’ in the 1960s (Kaijser and Heidenblad, 2018) in Scandinavia marked the emergence of pioneering discussions and concerns about the imminent disaster that was to succeed the overwhelming impact of human activity on the environment. This period heavily romanticised the pre-modernist landscape of an idyllic countryside and the abundance of nature, which preceded the age of industrialisation and therefore bid to capitalise on the notions of simpler times. For example, in Scotland, the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) has declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ and has proposed rewilding of the Scottish highlands in the manner of Romantic traditions of the past for a model of ‘sustainability with nationalist aspirations’ (Brown et al., 2011). This has resulted in environmental practices intermingling with the green nations’ socio-political institutions to secure a “desired pattern of interest articulation” (Dryzek et al., 2002) among the people, manifested in the form of increased compliance with climate action like the eco-taxes, strict implementation of low-energy building designs, and the smooth shift to renewable energy. In Norway, similar traditions of romanticism, embedded in the popular political and social values of the nation, have opened gateways to ambitious policies of staunch development of hydroelectricity and stringent targets for the reduction of emissions (Heggem, 2018). Therefore, nationalism can be used to leverage environmental stewardship by inculcating collective responsibility and stakeholdership for the citizens, as it places primary emphasis on the protection of natural resources for the existence of nationhood and, subsequently, national and personal identity.
But are All Forms of Nationalism Effective? The Emergence of Resource Nationalism and Climate Change Denial
An obverse form of Green Nationalism, ‘Resource Nationalism’ is defined as a “form of nationalist rhetoric that uplifts and sacralises soil-rooted national resources as a common good” (Conversi, 2020). It is characterised by collective ownership of certain natural goods that are found within its territory, such as fossil fuels, water bodies, and minerals by the nation-state, and hence justifies the exploitation of the aforementioned resources for the ‘advancement and the betterment of the motherland’. Often practised in right-wing politics and in colonially exploited developing and least developed countries, the leaders use natural resources to emphasise the ‘collective belonging’ of a community of people residing within the nation-state (Koch & Perreault, 2018). Instances include - oil and petroleum in Saudi Arabia, which are seen as ‘sacred resources’ for the burgeoning national interests and economic development; Russia’s state-owned company Gazprom, which consolidates national identity on the basis of hydrocarbons; and the emergence of Polish right-wing nationalism riding on the shale gas and oil exploration within the country (Materka, 2011). Therefore, the emergence of Resource Nationalism not only restricts the scope of global cooperation to tackle climate change but has also led to widespread climate change denial, undermining the effect of human intervention on Earth (Posocco & Watson, 2022). As the political leaders systemically rebuff the ills of a capitalistic and exploitative market economy that benefits a few, Resource Nationalism, as opposed to its green counterpart, romanticises the dazzling heights of an economically advanced nation with a strong economy built on its natural resources bestowed by God for the people, and therefore seeks to (over)use such resources indiscriminately. Thus, as China and India rallied to use the term ‘phase down’ instead of ‘phase out’ of coal during the COP-26 in 2021 (Express News Service, 2021.), citing national circumstances and meaningful economic development, the Era of Anthropocene has no indication of slowing down; instead, as the Global South pushes to reach the pinnacle of national prosperity and advancement, it is only expected to accelerate further.
A Critical Assessment of Nationalism in Environmentalism - Concluding Remarks
The winds of nationalism are a complex yet compelling case of the dynamic interplay of multifarious factors to alleviate the impact of the Anthropocene. It is true that a nation transcends the pertinence of several other entities and that its well-being weighs heavily upon the consciousness of the entire race that inhabits it. Therefore, the likelihood that a global crisis such as climate change, which requires multilateral cooperation between various nation-states to effectively combat the far-reaching effects of depleting natural resources and an overburdened environment, may be hindered by narrow territoriality is concerning, for it might not be able to generate a positive and collaborative response, which consequently inhibits the efficacy of climate action.
Secondly, the psychoanalysis of nationalism suggests that emotional loyalty to the nation has a strong impact on an individual psyche (Finlayson, 1998), and therefore, by employing nationalism to combat environmental degradation, the leaders can unleash a strong force that has the potential to overwhelm the climate change movement. Therefore, there is a need to recognise that Green Nationalism is not the only answer to addressing the crisis; rather, a fair balance must be achieved between an international response and a national one to successfully brave through the tempest of the Anthropocene.
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The author, Srishti Negi, is a student at Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi.
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