More cohesion on climate issues?

The vast majority (71 percent) of Germans would like to see their politicians do much more to combat climate change, with 83 percent reporting they are concerned about climate change. At the same time, many people are worried about the economic consequences of climate policy. Only eight percent are clearly opposed to ecological transformation – a small but potentially divisive group.

These and other findings were recently published by the Research Institute for Social Cohesion (FGZ) in its “Second Cohesion Report” entitled “(Im)possible Transformation? Social Cohesion and Attitudes toward Climate Change in Germany.” Since 2020, the institute has been using various data sources to research what unites and divides people in Germany.

The study finds that Germans can be divided into five “climate types:” (i) the determined (18 percent), who are strongly convinced of the dangers of climate change and the need for socio-ecological transformation; (ii) the concerned (18 percent), who are equally worried about climate change and the possible negative consequences of climate protection; (iii) those in agreement (31 percent), who want more climate protection but also have certain concerns about transformation; (iv) those indifferent (25 percent), who have a neutral or undecided attitude; and (v) those in disagreement (8 percent), who view climate change as less dangerous and reject climate protection measures.

The present results are based largely on the second wave of the Social Cohesion Panel (SCP), which has been conducted since 2021 in cooperation between the SOEP and the FGZ.

Interested individuals can find out which climate type they are at https://fgz-risc-data.de/klimatypenrechner.