Constructing environmentally sustainable and democratic political regimes constitutes the most important political project of our times – an era characterized by the proliferation of authoritarian populism and the growing effects of climate change. This double challenge requires rethinking environmental governance as part of a broader question of democracy.

For this, Noemi Gonda, Researcher at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), explored how land and climate politics in contemporary Hungary and Nicaragua contribute to further existing intersectional exclusions, favor political elites and re-signify climate goals and sustainability in such a way that it favors the regime and its allies. Unmasking the contradictions and ambiguities of environmental governance promoted by authoritarian populist political regimes can help us peer through the cracks of authoritarian populist politics, and contribute to envisioning democracy through environmental governance.