RiseAccording to a study by the EON Foundation, climate protection is the main concern of German voters. However, according to the assessment of a long-term survey, opinions on specific political measures are “very different.” It can be observed that there are huge differences among 299 electoral districts among occupations, ages and social groups, as well as between regions. Bundestag election.
The survey is based on information from an online survey conducted on more than 10,000 citizens since April. The survey results cover the period from July 26 to August 25. According to the EON Foundation, the market research company Civey only provides unweighted raw data to exclude possible distortions due to weighting factors. Participants of the survey were given multiple choice questions from which they could choose three answers. Part of the survey is to compare data with federal election officials in order to be able to link answers to various electoral districts.
Like many other surveys, the assessment of important political issues also has a clear picture (“Which political topics do you think are the most important at the moment?”): In June, 37% of respondents believed that “climate change and energy transition” are very important. The evaluation of the survey, it is classified as important. In July, the value rose to 44%, and after the August flood disaster, the value rose to 49% of respondents. Therefore, so far, this topic is considered the most important. “Fighting and preventing poverty in the elderly” lags behind by 6 percentage points, and “combating organized crime” lags behind again by 3 percentage points.
The huge difference between town and country
There are big differences within the group that mentions climate protection. 92% of Green Party voters said that climate protection is the most important issue for them. On average, other voters have only 38% preference. Social, regional, and economic differences are significant: in areas with high purchasing power, climate protection issues tend to be higher than average, and in areas with low purchasing power, they tend to go in the opposite direction. The differences between urban and rural areas are equally obvious (see Figure 1).
The evaluation of the survey at the constituency level showed correspondingly large differences.Special attention is paid to climate protection and Energy transition These are the university cities of Münster (68%), Freiburg (65%) and Göttingen (64%). Hamburg North is the first major city constituency to appear in fifth place with 63%.
At the other end are rural areas, usually in eastern Germany. In Mansfield, Suhl, Saxon Switzerland, Erzgebirge I, and Anhalt-the five constituencies with the lowest climate protection and energy transition values-only a quarter or a fifth of people think Climate protection is the most important issue. This conceals the fact that this trend can also be observed in rural areas in the west.
Bottom resistance of internal combustion engine
How accepted is the climate policy? Eight measures were proposed: stopping burning cars, raising carbon dioxide prices, speed limits, meat excise taxes, subsidies for electric vehicles, easier expansion of wind power, building energy efficiency, and reduced car traffic in the city center (Figure 2). One in five said they agreed to put all these measures into practice. The resistance caused by the end of the internal combustion engine is the greatest; 37% of the respondents believe that this “will never happen”, followed by higher carbon dioxide prices (35%), speed limits (25) and meat excise taxes (23). In the survey, only 16% opposed promoting the expansion of wind turbines.
If it is based on electoral districts, the situation is different: in rural areas, resistance to the end of the internal combustion engine is particularly high, and in cities such as Münster, Freiburg or Hamburg, it is particularly low. According to the analysis of the EON Foundation, the difference is also related to the employment structure: constituencies with a higher than average proportion of service employees welcome all measures in particular; on the other hand, constituencies with a large number of employees in production are skeptical. The same applies to demographic factors: constituencies with high immigration rates and aging populations are less enthusiastic about climate protection measures than constituencies with young and growing populations.
“Insufficient climate funding per capita”
A survey of the EON Foundation-EON Group’s corporate foundation in Essen-shows that social justice in climate policy is regional justice. Stephan Muschick, managing director of FAZ, said that income or education level is not decisive for attitudes towards ambitious climate protection. “On the contrary, the socio-economic situation on the scene is decisive. The more prosperous a region, the greater the willingness to support climate protection.” Therefore, as several political parties announced in their election plans, a one-time payment of climate funds per capita It is not enough to make up for the burden. It is necessary to make targeted investments in economic strength, especially in areas with weak structures.
Muschick said that this is consistent with the results of the “Social Sustainability Barometer for Energy Transition” released by the Foundation in 2019. 73% of the respondents advocated a climate-friendly transportation system, 70% advocated the expansion of renewable energy, but only 43% advocated personal reimbursement of carbon dioxide pricing income.
