Climate change has become primarily a political weapon in Slovakia. The problem with many discussions is not that politicians deny the existence of climate change, but that they create a misleading picture of reality from true facts. Politics in this In our area, the question often does not begin with the substantive question of what the data tells us, but with how it can be politically explained and sold to voters. The result is that instead of finding pragmatic solutions, we only hear partial truths that deliberately emphasize the costs while ignoring the essential economic and security benefits.

Five main half-truths in the rhetoric of Slovak politicians

Several claims have been repeated in domestic political discourse for a long time, which, while they have a factual basis, significantly mislead the public without a broader context.

The first half-truth is the claim that Slovakia is too small and will not save the world's climate. It is true that our share of global emissions is very low and we will by no means stop global warming on our own. However, this does not mean that our climate policy is insignificant, since we are part of the huge regulatory and economic market of the European Union. The real question is not whether we will save the planet, but how Slovakia will prepare for a new era of the economy, dominated by low-carbon technologies and electrification.

The second half-truth is the constant pointing of the finger at China as the main culprit. Yes, China is now the world's largest emitter, but it is also the largest global producer of the technologies needed for decarbonization, from solar panels to batteries. If we resign in Europe, we will not avoid the climate crisis and, moreover, we will lose our industrial competitiveness in the long term.

The third myth is the claim that the Green Deal automatically made energy more expensive and destroyed industry. The energy crisis after 2021 was primarily caused by geopolitics, the war in Ukraine and the curtailment of Russian gas supplies, not by environmental goals themselves. Climate policy and energy security are not automatically contradictory. Moreover, the EU experience shows that between 1990 and 2023, the Union's net emissions fell by 37 %, while its total GDP grew by 68 %.

The fourth half-truth is the popular alibi that Slovakia has already reduced emissions by half and is "done". The fact is that Slovak emissions have fallen by more than 50 % since 1990, but this decline was mainly caused by the massive economic transformation and restructuring of heavy industry after the fall of communism. The hardest part is just ahead of us - we need to decarbonize transport, buildings, agriculture and household heating, i.e. areas where emissions have stagnated.

The fifth half-truth is the idea that forests will simply offset the carbon we produce. Although forests are an important part of the climate system, their capacity to sequester carbon has its limits, which are directly dependent on their age, health, drought or fires. Therefore, carbon sequestration in nature can never serve as a universal excuse for postponing the reduction of fossil emissions.

Environmental populism and political struggle in Slovakia

These and similar half-truths are often the driving force behind the environmental populism that is gaining momentum in Slovakia. Politicians like to use this agenda to deepen polarization, for example by pitting the interests of the capital (Bratislava) against the existential needs of rural residents.

A very illustrative example of such an escalated dispute was national park reform. Its essence was the transfer of state land management to nature conservation organizations and the effort to expand no-intervention zones (through the so-called zoning) in order to prioritize the protection of the country's biodiversity,. However, instead of a substantive expert debate, harsh populism took over. Populist political actors portrayed this reform as a direct threat to the countryside, which will bring a massive loss of jobs in forestry, eliminate the traditional way of life and impoverish people,,. Conservationists and representatives of non-profit organizations were repeatedly and purposefully labeled as "eco-terrorists" or "eco-fascists" in this context, who supposedly only want to steal European funds,,. The political struggle thus completely overshadowed the fact that national parks represent a huge economic potential for sustainable ecotourism and the development of the poorer regions themselves,.

A similarly explosive and polarizing topic is the transition to e-mobility and the related European ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines after 2035. Part of the political spectrum strictly rejects this step with the argument that it will destroy the Slovak automotive industry, bring unemployment and plunge people into poverty who will not be able to afford an expensive electric car,,. However, an important industrial reality is often hushed up. For Slovakia to survive as an automotive powerhouse, investments in green technologies are a necessity. Concrete proof is the planned construction of a huge gigafactory for batteries for electric cars in Šurany, which, according to the Ministry of Economy, is absolutely crucial for maintaining the competitiveness and future of our automotive industry not only at home, but throughout Europe.

While populist slogans flourish in politics, the corporate sphere is preparing to drastically limit misleading the public. From September 2026, new, much stricter rules will come into force in Slovakia, which will bring The end of so-called greenwashing. The amendment to the Consumer Protection Act will explicitly prohibit companies from using vague marketing claims such as „eco“, „organic“ or „climate neutral“ unless they can back them up with relevant and verifiable data. Companies will no longer be able to make up claims about carbon neutrality based solely on dubious emission offsets and will not be allowed to use misleading green visuals without a real ecological benefit. Every eco-label will have to go through an independent certification system, which will definitively change the rules of the game in marketing communication and protect consumers from deceptive practices.

Systemic Hesitation: The Missing Climate Law

Despite the fact that we have relatively accurate data, we know where emissions are decreasing and where they are stagnating, and we are familiar with European targets, Slovakia still has not adopted a separate climate law. It is this law that should clearly define the state's responsibilities and binding targets, which was also critically pointed out by the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic in 2025.

When the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic presented a draft of such a law in early 2023, non-governmental organizations (such as the Climate Coalition, VIA IURIS, or Climate Needs You) welcomed it as a basic umbrella tool on the path to carbon neutrality. However, they immediately pointed out its fundamental systemic flaws. The proposed decarbonization targets for individual sectors were assessed by analysts as lukewarm and insufficiently ambitious. The biggest problem, however, was that the law completely left out of its scope a huge sector of industrial enterprises included in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), which is among the largest polluters and emitters of greenhouse gases in our country. Climate change has not stopped due to political turbulence, and therefore, according to experts, the law must not only bring soft compromises, but strict control and real enforcement of obligations.

The need to speak a full sentence

The biggest problem with the domestic climate debate is not that our politicians always lie outright. The problem is that they are very fond of they only tell the truth about that part of reality that suits them politically and it is easily sold on social media.

Climate policy is too serious a topic to be just a political marketing tool. Slovakia desperately needs leaders who can tell the public the „whole sentence“: yes, climate change is a fact and although Slovakia will not solve it on its own, we are an integral part of the European economy. It is fine to discuss the pace, competitiveness or expensive measures. However, it is necessary to deliver the most important second half of the truth fairly and directly – that inaction and ignoring the laws of physics will ultimately cost our society much more. JRi&CO2AI