Climate fatigue isn't a sign that Europeans are in denial – it's a sign of their fear | Francesco Grillo

While Europe is battered by the climate crisis, governments must reassure voters that green costs will be fairly shared

At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking ... We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open." A few months ago, the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres used these words to warn that the collective battle against the climate crisis is losing political steam. Guterres was right: the collective response is pitiful. But it's not just the politicians.

Clear evidence of climate fatigue emerges from recent opinion polls on voting intentions in the next European parliament elections, in June 2024. While European green parties are expected to lose more than a third of their seats, rightwing climate-sceptic conservatives are expected to win big.

Francesco Grillo is a visiting fellow at the European University Institute, Florence and director of the thinktank Vision