Environmental Consciousness in Germany 2022

The study series “Environmental Consciousness in Germany” has been conducted every two years since 1996 on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Environment Agency to investigate how environmental awareness and environmental behavior are developing among the population in Germany. The aim is to understand the existing patterns of thought and action in society and to anticipate the needs of different population groups.

The survey 2022 was conducted by forsa from June 17 to June 30, 2022. In addition to updating the central time series questions of the study series on environmental awareness, it included an extensive block of questions on this year´s main topic of “Labour, economy and social affairs”. As part of the survey, a total of 2,073 people in Germany aged 14 and over were interviewed online (CAWI = computer assisted web interview). The selected persons were members of the forsa.onminet panel. Recruitment was done via telephone interviews based on random samples to ensure the representativeness of the panel. As only a small number of respondents aged 14 to 19 could be recruited during the survey period, a follow-up survey was conducted from August 25 to September 1, 2022, with around 60 respondents from this age group.<br>Importance of various socio-political issues (social equality, economic development, crime, public safety, wars, terrorism, environmental and climate protection, digitalization, unemployment, immigration, integration, state of the education system, state of the healthcare system, development of urban and rural areas, course and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, data protection); areas where change is urgently needed (sufficient and affordable housing, better job opportunities and fair wages, improvement of educational opportunities, more environmental, nature and climate protection, integration of immigrants, improvement of public safety, more investment in infrastructure (such as road and rail networks, electricity and heating networks), reduction of poverty and social inequality, preventing discrimination and equal opportunities for all, strengthening healthcare and care, advancing digitalization, supply with healthy and affordable food, reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports).

Labour, economy and social affairs: Attitude towards ecological structural change; assessment of the German government´s measures with regard to ecological structural change; influence of the war in Ukraine on the importance of converting to an environmentally and climate-friendly economy; personal feelings with regard to the German government´s efforts to transform Germany into an environmentally and climate-friendly economy (fear of unemployment, concern about a further increase in the cost of living, uncertainty due to unforeseeable consequences, fear of social decline, concern about insufficient measures, annoyance due to slow action by the German government, agreement with the necessity of the transformation, concern about less enjoyment of one´s own work, confidence in expectation of an improved standard of living, confidence in expectation of an improved quality of life); expected effects of the ecological structural change in Germany on selected aspects (competitiveness of the economy, number of jobs, prosperity, social equality, quality of life, health, environmental quality, achievement of climate protection targets, protection against negative consequences of climate change); expected changes due to the ecological structural change in Germany with regard to selected aspects (income and property differences between poor and rich people, income and property differences between new and old federal states, social conflicts); appropriate consideration of the interests of selected groups of people with regard to ecological structural change in Germany (poor people, people from the middle class, rich people, people in Eastern Germany, people in Western Germany, people in rural areas, people in cities, older people, younger people); personal willingness to take selected measures or measures already taken with regard to ecological structural change (further vocational training, changing jobs, taking up a new profession, promoting one´s own company in the areas of environmental and climate friendliness); expectations regarding actions of companies concerning ecological structural change (should offer appropriate further training and retraining for employees, should support employees in leading an environmentally and climate-friendly lifestyle, should implement environmental and climate protection measures); approval of selected statements with regard to possible governmental measures for the socially just organisation of the restructuring of the economy (extensive financial support for severely affected regions for the conversion to an environmentally and climate-friendly economy, participation of all affected parties in the planning and implementation of measures for the conversion to an environmentally and climate-friendly economy in Germany, governmental funding of retraining and further training measures for employees from regions threatened by job losses, governmental funding of retraining and further training measures for employees interested in new tasks in an environmentally and climate-friendly economy, adaptation of existing training and study programmes, creation of new training and study programmes, facilitation of immigration of qualified specialists).

Specific environmental topics: assessment of the harmfulness of selected factors to one´s own health: pollutants and pesticide residues in food, chemicals in products and objects of daily use, electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, tablets and computers as well as from mobile phone masts, pollutants in drinking water, plastic particles in drinking water and food, air pollutants, noise, consequences of climate change; self-rated knowledge with regard to selected topics (climate change, species extinction, condition of forests, pollution of soil, water and air, plastic waste and plastic inputs into nature, pollutants in food, scarcity of raw materials, land consumption due to soil sealing, scarcity of fresh water reserves, ozone depletion, acidification of the oceans, environmental pollution due to intensive livestock farming, environmental pollution due to over-fertilisation); perceived threat by the aformentioned issues; importance of various task areas in environmental protection (e.g. switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies, taking up less natural land for new roads, residential and commercial areas, etc.); assessment of the commitment of various actors to environmental and climate protection (environmental associations, cities and municipalities, federal government, federal states, European Union, United Nations (UN), industry and business, citizens, science, media, educational institutions, trade unions); importance of the requirements of environmental and climate protection in the following policy areas (economic policy, labor market policy, social policy, foreign policy, transport policy, agricultural policy, energy policy, tax and financial policy, urban development policy/urban and regional planning, health policy and education policy); perceptibility of the effects of climate change with regard to selected points (heat, low water and droughts, heavy rainfall and flooding, glacier retreat and snowfall, condition of natural habitats, health and well-being of the population, sea level rise); importance of selected protection and adaptation measures in relation to climatic changes (protection against extreme heat through cooling urban nature or building insulation, support programmes for particularly vulnerable older people to protect them from the health consequences of extreme heat, saving water, conversion of forests into drought-resistant mixed forests, improving population protection against extreme weather, structural measures to protect against flooding, strengthening coastal defences, renaturation of rivers and floodplains and special protection of forests and wetlands against water loss, information campaigns on adapting to climate change).

Environmental awareness and personal willingness to change: approval of selected statements on the environment (it worries me when I think about the environmental conditions we are leaving behind for future generations, man-made environmental problems such as deforestation or plastic in the oceans outrage me, I am happy when people simply try out sustainable lifestyles, I am annoyed when environmentalists want to tell me how I should live, it makes me angry when I see that Germany is failing to meet its climate protection targets, climate change also threatens the basis of life here in Germany, when it comes to the consequences of climate change, many things are greatly exaggerated, more environmental protection also means better quality of life and health for everyone, there are natural limits to growth that our industrialized world has long since reached, we should all be prepared to reduce our current standard of living for the benefit of the environment, each individual has a responsibility to ensure that we leave an environment worth living in for future generations, we must find ways to live well independently of economic growth, environmental protection is often used as an excuse to raise prices, we should not consume more raw materials than can be regrown, other things are more important for a good life than the environment and nature, we need more economic growth in the future, even if this burdens the environment); personal behavior (frequency) when buying and using products and services (I buy food from controlled organic cultivation, I buy seasonal foods, I drink tap water, when shopping I choose products with an environmental label such as the Blue Angel, the EU organic label or the EU Ecolabel, I eat meat for my main meals, I use a bicycle, public transport or walk for my everyday journeys, when buying household appliances I choose appliances with a particularly good energy efficiency rating, I heat my home in winter so that I am warm enough even in a T-shirt, I consciously limit my consumption in everyday life); active environmental protection behavior (donations to environmental or nature conservation groups, commitment to environmental and nature conservation, household purchases green electricity, avoiding air travel for climate protection reasons, live vegetarian, live vegan, I make sure that my financial and pension investments are environmentally and climate-friendly, I campaign for environmentally friendly changes at my workplace, I take part in demonstrations in favour of environmental and climate protection, I boycott companies that are harmful to the environment and climate, I vote for parties that are committed to environmental and climate protection); willingness to contribute to climate protection with the following actions: switching to a green electricity tariff, heating the home less in winter, buying household appliances with a very good energy efficiency rating even more consistently, using the car less often for everyday journeys, giving up air travel completely or partially, eating fewer meals with meat, consuming less overall, living in less living space; willingness to contribute to climate protection with the following actions: pay attention to environmentally and climate-friendly productts when making financial and pension investments, campaign for environmentally friendly changes at my workplace, actively engage in environmental and climate protection, donate money to environmental or nature conservation groups, take part in demonstrations for environmental and climate protection, boycott companies that are harmful to the environment and climate, vote for parties that are committed to environmental and climate protection; number of cars available in the household; mileage in kilometers per year with this car; living space in square meters; energy requirements of the main residence; amount of monthly down payment for electricity; estimate of electricity consumption; airplane use for private travel in the last twelve months; number of air travels in the last twelve months in short-haul, medium-haul and long-haul.

Assessment of environmental problems, movements, seals: attitude towards general statements on climate change (I am afraid of the consequences of climate change, I am sad that people are destroying nature, it´s unfair that it´s mainly rich people who cause environmental problems, while it´s mainly poor people who suffer from them, unnecessary waste of natural resources and the throwaway society annoy me, I have hope that humanity will solve the environmental and climate problems, I feel psychologically burdened by climate change and environmental destruction); evaluation of global movements for climate protection (great respect for people´s commitment, climate activists mainly spread exaggerated panic and excitement, actions of climate activists an important impetus to do more for climate protection, climate activists not credible, support the concerns of these movements, I do not agree with forms of protest such as the occupation of forests or motorways, I am involved in these movements myself, politics should listen more to the concerns of these movements); knowledge of selected labels and seals (energy efficiency classes, EU organic seal, EU Ecolabel, Blue Angel, GOTS, Fairtrade, FSC, Green Button); influence of the label or seal on the purchasing decision.

Value orientation (I want to have influence on other people, I want people to admire what I do, I want to have fun and do things in my life that give me pleasure, I want to have an exciting and varied life, I want to be free and independent and creative, environmental protection is important to me, everyone should have equal opportunities in life, I want to help people who are close to me, I find traditions important, I find it important that all people abide by rules, I avoid anything that could jeopardise my safety, it is important to me to be rich).

Demography: age; highest school-leaving qualification or university degree; sex; residential status; household composition; number of children in the household up to 5 years, from 6 to 10 years, from 11 to 13 years and from 14 to 17 years; household size; migration background (self or parent(s)); net household income; in occupation; occupational group; size of locality; residential area; federal state; self-assessment of health status; severely disabled; party preference; interest in politics; membership in an association or organisation.

Additionally coded: sequential number; weighting factor.