Vol. 17 No. 33 (2026): Precarious dwelling. Everyday practices, caring relations, and meaning-making processes
Special Issue: Climate Change and Far-right Politics: Between Adoption and Adaptation

An Obstacle to the Sustainability Transformation? How Conspiracy Beliefs Shape Climate (In)action

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  • Kevin Winter
Kevin Winter
Department of Sustainable Behavior and Management, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/smp-16976

Published 2026-08-04

Keywords

  • conspiracist worldview,
  • conspiracy beliefs,
  • climate-friendly behavior,
  • political ideology,
  • misinformation

How to Cite

Winter, K. (2026). An Obstacle to the Sustainability Transformation? How Conspiracy Beliefs Shape Climate (In)action. SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 17(33), 131–144. https://doi.org/10.36253/smp-16976

Copyright (c) 2026 Kevin Winter

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Conspiracy theories about climate change and climate policies are deliberately spread, mainly by right-wing actors. Such narratives can limit societies’ ability to address climate change. But what exactly are the consequences of believing in climate-related conspiracy theories and who is susceptible to believe them? Political ideology is known to shape citizens’ views on climate-related topics, yet another worldview might be relevant. Recent empirical work suggests that the so-called conspiracist worldview (i.e., the assumption that societal events are the result of secret plots by malevolent and powerful groups) can be a strong determinant of climate-related conspiracy beliefs and behavior. The current article reviews this work and provides a theoretical framework for studying the link between conspiracy beliefs and climate-related behavior. In many cases, the conspiracist worldview appears to be more influential than political ideology in predicting climate-related beliefs and behavior. At the same time, the current review doubts that conspiracy beliefs per se are an obstacle to sustainability. Disentangling effects of different worldviews and differentiating between types of conspiracy beliefs can provide a more nuanced view. This approach could inform the design of future studies and help address the challenges that misinformation and conspiracy theories pose for communicators and institutions who aim to bring about the sustainability transformation.

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