Eco-nationalism (also known as ecological nationalism or green nationalism) is a synthesis of nationalism and green politics. Eco-nationalists may be from many points across the left–right political spectrum, but all are bound to the idea that the nation-state and its citizens have a special duty to protect the environment of their country.
Definitions and tenets According to Jane Dawson, eco-nationalism is the rise of social movements that closely connect problems of environment protection with nationalist concerns. Dawson also surmised that eco-nationalism is "the synthesis of environmentalism, national identity, and the struggle for justice". Professors of history K. Sivaramakrishnan and Gunnel Cederlöf have defined eco-nationalism as, whether nativist or cosmopolitan in nature, "when the state appropriates the environment and environmental policies as forms of national pride, thereby consolidating and legitimating the nation."
One of the first instances of eco-nationalism was in the 1980s in the then Soviet Union, where citizens perceived environmental degradation as both a systemic fault of socialism and a direct result of Moscow's desire to weaken a particular nation by destroying its natural base, and exploiting its resources. Estonian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian independence movements drew great strength from environmental activism, especially from an antinuclear stance. In 1985–1991, eco-nationalism was one of the symptoms and at the same time a new impulse of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Eco-nationalism as defined by anthropologists often manifests in the adoption of nature as an entity outside of culture that must be protected in its pristine and untouched state whenever possible. In subaltern studies and cultural anthropology, eco-nationalism refers to the iconification of native species and landscapes in a way that appeals to a nationalist sentiment.
Ethnic Eco-nationalism vs. Civic Eco-nationalism
When discussing eco-nationalism, many writers have noted it is important to understand the difference between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism believes that the nation-state should be constructed primarily around a single ethnicity, whereas civic nationalism believes that the nation-state should be constructed around a diversity of people who all share common values, beliefs, and culture. The former tends to be insular, isolationist, nativist, and typically right-wing, while the latter is open, egalitarian, multicultural, and typically more left-wing. Whether ethno nationalist or civic nationalist, when a nationalist group adds an environmentalist dimension to their ideology, they believe the nation-state and its citizens have a duty to protect the environment of the country.
Bioregionalism Bioregionalism is the belief that political, cultural, and economic systems are more environmentally sustainable and just if they are organized around naturally defined areas called bioregions. This idea that a state should conform to the natural geography of the land is compatible with the older nationalist concept of a natural border, which also believes that natural geography should determine the borders of a state. Due to the compatibility of these two ideas, Bioregionalism is often a tenet of eco-nationalist thought.
Ecotourism and cultural eco-nationalism Eco-nationalism can manifest in ecotourism, which can enrich local economies but has garnered criticism from a variety of perspectives. Artistic works that extol the virtues of a nation's natural phenomena, such as the poetry of William Wordsworth or the paintings of the Group of Seven, are another expression of eco-nationalism.
National examples Africa Nigeria
The struggle of the Ogoni people in Ogoniland in coastal south Nigeria against the national government has been characterised as an eco-nationalist movement by Jane Dawson. Following the discovery of oil in the region during the 1960s, the federal government altered how states in Nigeria were budgeted. Before the discovery of oil, a state's budget was based on how much it contributed to the national economy, but after the discovery of oil, the policy became that wealth must be shared out amongst all states. The result of this was that little of the newfound wealth being generated in Ogoniland was reinvested locally, and was instead redistributed to the more politically powerful states in the north of the country. The small percentage of wealth reinvested into Ogoniland was invested into building oil infrastructure, infrastructure which had dire environmental consequences on the region. As a result, Ogoni nationalism took on a distinctive environmentalist dimension in response to these issues.
Asia China In China, eco-nationalism is manifested through the state-led ideology of "Ecological civilization" (shengtai wenming), which became a central pillar of Xi Jinping Thought and was enshrined in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitution in 2017. This shift represents a transition from "resource nationalism"—which prioritized industrial growth at the expense of the environment—to a "green nationalism" where environmental stewardship is directly linked to the state's performance legitimacy.
The government utilizes "traditional Chinese ecological wisdom," such as the concept of harmony between humanity and nature, to frame its environmental policies as a culturally authentic alternative to Western liberal democratic models. A key element of this discourse is the "Two Mountains Theory," which posits that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" (equivalent to gold and silver mountains). This ideology is promoted through state-led rituals, such as national tree-planting campaigns, and is integrated into school curricula to cultivate a "green" national identity.
While the narrative is primarily top-down, it involves the participation of domestic NGOs, academics, and private actors who reproduce these narratives in a process described as "banal green nationalism". Internationally, China leverages its environmental efforts—such as hosting the COP15 and establishing the Kunming Biodiversity Fund—to assert global leadership and enhance the international prestige of its governance model. However, scholars note that this model remains distinct from "reflexive green nationalism" seen in some European contexts, as the Chinese party-state restricts environmental criticism that challenges central authority.
India The struggle of the practitioners of the Sarna sthal religion in India, particularly in the Jharkhand state, to receive official recognition from the state has been described by some as an "eco-nationalist" one, as the Sarna identity has been suggested to born out of a sense of nation infused with ecological thinking.
Taiwan
Some scholars have suggested that Civic Eco-nationalism is a distinct feature of Taiwanese politics. Similar to countries in the Eastern Bloc in the 1980s, Environmentalism protests in Taiwan in the 1990s were a means by which the citizens could indirectly criticise the party-state. Just like the Baltic nations in the Soviet Union, Environmentalism as a mass movement began in Taiwan as a backlash against the introduction of Nuclear power. Protests against the construction of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant led by Lin Yi-hsiung in 1994 have been cited as a foundation point for Eco-nationalism in Taiwan as well as part of the momentum that led to Taiwan's transition to democracy in the late 1990s and 2000s. Part of Chen Shui-bian's platform in the historic 2000 Taiwanese presidential election, in which the ruling Kuomintang lost for the first time ever, was to halt the construction of the Lungmen plant. The issue of nuclear power, and specifically Lungmen, have never been resolved in Taiwan and following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, the issue of nuclear power once again became a key issue in Taiwanese politics.
Another area in which Taiwanese environmentalism and eco-nationalism can be seen demonstrated is in the politics of Taiwan's indigenous population. A persistent critique in Taiwan is that land traditionally held by indigenous Taiwanese has been transformed by the state into mines and national parks, while the indigenous have been prevented by the state from using the same land for homes or for hunting. In 2018, a member of the New Power Party stated that 80% of Taiwan's 217 mining areas were located in aboriginal territories. This situation has led to the ongoing Indigenous Ketagalan Boulevard protest, which began in 2017. Another example of the environmental burden placed on indigenous Taiwanese has been the issue of nuclear waste dumping practised in secret by the state on the largely indigenous Orchid Island. The discovery of this nuclear dumping led to mass protests in 2002. The sentiment that the price of Taiwan's industrial development has unfairly fallen on indigenous communities has led to the growth of Eco-nationalism in Taiwan, with Eco-Nationalists arguing that the struggle of the indigenous must be tied to environmentalism and that there must be environmental justice for the indigenous.
Another cited example of a merger of Taiwanese nationalism and environmentalism is in the increasing environmental aspect of the "huan-dao"; the huan-dao is an emerging Taiwanese tradition in which a Taiwanese citizen cycles the entire length of the country along Taiwan Cycling Route No.1. Considered both a coming-of-age ritual as well as an act of Taiwanese patriotism, a developing aspect of the huan-dao is for travellers to collect and dispose of waste along the route as a patriotic act.
Europe Baltic nations and Ukraine As noted above, some of the first instances of eco-nationalism were observed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine in the 1980s. It was during this time period that nationalists in those countries discovered that the Soviet Union did not seek to block anti-government activity if it was under the banner of environmentalism. Thus nationalists in those countries threw themselves into environmental causes, particular after the Chernobyl disaster. In Estonia, eco-nationalists campaigned on the issues of oil-shale pollution, nuclear risk and mineral (phosphate) mining. In Latvia, fears about the potential damages to the natural environment by large hydro-dams on the Daugava River, as well as concerns that the symbols of the Latvian nation the Oak and Linden tree species were being destroyed. The eco-nationalism of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine are described as being eco-civic-nationalist rather than eco-ethno-nationalist.
Scotland
The centre-left, civic nationalist Scottish National Party has been described in some sources as eco-nationalist; Espousing Scottish nationalism, the SNP has accused the Westminster government of being a "negligent landlord" that tosses its waste and pollution in Scotland. The SNP is noted for a longstanding willingness to work alongside environmental activists. In 2019 the SNP-led Scottish government was one of the first countries in the world to officially declare a climate emergency and followed this up with the radical Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019. The act was subsequently praised by the UN as "an inspiring example of the level of ambition we need globally to achieve the Paris Agreement". Following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP and Scottish Greens entered into a ruling coalition together. Like the SNP, the Scottish Greens favour independence from the United Kingdom.
Spain