How beliefs of the political elite and citizens on climate change influence support for Swiss energy transition policy

This paper analyzes factors that lead to opposition towards policies in Switzerland that promote a clean energy transition. During legislative processes, both the elite and general citizens can develop resistance towards such policies. The article considers those two perspectives and determines, on both levels, factors that explain opposition. We also specifically take into account whether climate change skepticism, i.e., questioning that climate change is real and human-induced, is a key factor that leads to opposition. Furthermore, we employ structural equation models to account for interactions between the elite and general citizens. The results show that political actors who reject the idea of man-made climate change also oppose the promotion of a clean energy transition, and more generally that elite actors influence how citizens think about the issue. At the citizen level, an increase in climate change skepticism has a negative impact on levels of support for clean energy policy. The link is mainly determined by party affiliation. We conclude that potential strategies for achieving a clean energy transition should focus on motivating citizens because they generally seem to be less polarized and partisan, and thus less opposed to new solutions, than the elite, who tend to be more constrained in their actions.