Clash of Perspectives: Analyzing the Climate Debates in CEE+ Region

However, the public debate across the EU surrounding climate policies is undergoing significant shifts, as member states struggle with a number of intertwined challenges at the same time - for instance the consequences of escalating energy prices, the need to provide energy security, and at the same time the requirement to quickly implement the EGD measures. [...] The Polish public also supports the removal of dependencies on foreign raw materials as quickly as possible and the construction of new wind projects.20 Support for nuclear power is also high in Polish society (90 per cent).21 At the same time, the issue of energy prices will certainly be crucial in the next election campaigns in Poland (ahead of the local elections in April, the European Parliame. [...] The division of the political offer is as expected here: the farther to the left, the more in favor of these policies. [...] An example of a promising practice in addressing these challenges is the existence of the Institute for a Just Transition in Spain, established in 2020, with the goal of identifying and adopting measures to minimize the negative impacts on employment and depopulation in the transition toward a low-carbon economy, especially with regards to the coal regions. [...] It is noteworthy how the growing perception of the short-term costs of the green transition for the population is diminishing in the focus of political offerings (but not in demand), while the benefits will only be visible in the long term.