Climate scepticism is often treated as an Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, and the majority of the studies on the subject have focused on English-speaking countries. This paper focuses on climate scepticism in the Czech Republic, probably the only country in the world whose president, Václav Klaus, is climate sceptical. It aims to consider to what extent the views of the Czech president influence public opinion in the country. Doing so, it aims to fill a significant gap in the literature: while many works have been produced on the influence of sceptical discourses on decision-makers, many authors argue that studies on climate scepticism have so far failed to capture the extent to which sceptics succeed in spreading doubt among the general public.
The paper is based on an empirical study that was conducted between February and July 2012 through an analysis of both primary and secondary empirical data. First, we analysed numerous opinion surveys over time, to reveal insights into public opinion on climate change in the country. This analysis is complemented by a close examination of the socio-political context towards climate change in the country by the mean of expert interviews. The second part is based on primary empirical materials collected through focus groups.
The study found out that climate sceptics, supported by Klaus’ broadly-publicised views, have been active in the country since 2007 and bear responsibilities for the lack of coherence and interest that characterizes the country’s climate policies. It also suggests that climate sceptics have had a mitigated impact on the public opinion and that Klaus’ views are shared by a rather limited proportion of the Czech population. Nevertheless, a lack of interest in climate change is being shared by a majority of the population, and Czech political elites have thus no real reasons to push forward the climate agenda.
