Majority of Germans support move to green economy — study

The vast majority of people in Germany are in favor of the economy being made more climate-friendly, according to a survey carried out by the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) published on Thursday.

A total of 91% of respondents said that they were very or generally in favor of making Germany's economy greener, although they were not asked what specific steps they thought should be taken.

German economy's ecological transformation

Clear majorities supported companies taking measures to make their operations more climate-friendly as well as supporting workers to make greener life choices — such as providing them with bikes to cycle to work.

But at the same time, 81% said they were worried about rising costs associated with reforming the German economy, such as the cost of electricity, heating and food.

When it came to rating the current coalition government of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats, only 35% said they find the policies to be appropriate. Some 41% said the policies did not go far enough, while 18% said they went too far.

"It is vitally important that such a clear majority is fundamentally in favor of an ecological transformation of the economy," UBA President Dirk Messner said.

"Decarbonizing the economy is essential if we are to meet climate protection targets and do our part in preventing the dangers of warming beyond the two-degree limit," he added, referring to the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Perception and action

As for how important Germans consider the topic of climate change, a majority of 57% said they thought it was very important — compared to the 67% who said the health care system was very important and the 66% who said education was very important.

This is likely due to the fact that 85% of respondents had said that they noticed major effects of climate change such as droughts and low water levels.

However, as in previous years, the data shows a gap between the perception of climate problems and people's own individual behaviors.

"Many people take climate change problems seriously and are emotionally affected by them. But their actions don't always reflect this," the UBA study said.

While 55% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement that human destruction of nature made them "sad," some 53% said that they always, often, or occasionally heat up their homes to the extent that they do not need to wear a jumper.

As for the actions they would take, 61% of respondents said they would vote for a party with climate-friendly policies, and 36% would give money to environmental groups.

ab/sms (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

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