Long term climate policy has long been at odds with short-term politics. As numerous countries head to the polls this year, we visit Brazil, Australia and the United States and see how climate policy is being used as a political tool to divide voters.

During recent the elections in Australia – a country with some of the world’s highest emissions per capita – experts believe that experiencing the effects of climate change first hand brought the need for action up the agenda, leading to the unseating of the climate sceptic Liberal National Coalition. We hear from a follower of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who believes that the country’s own deforestation figures are fake. Meanwhile, in the US, we look at how the Republican party’s position changed from the 2008 presidential elections from proposing climate policies to denying that man-made climate change is real.

Kate Lamble and Neal Razzell are joined by:

Reporter: Roberta Fortuna