Sinus Polulation Survey

Study: 90 per cent are in favour of a more just climate policy

A large majority of people in 19 countries in the EU and North America believe that politics should make economic change more socially just. This is the result of a representative population survey conducted by the SINUS-Institute for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

A clear majority of respondents consider climate change to be a very important issue (on a scale of 0-10, 64 per cent rate it 8-10). Fears of extreme weather events, species extinction and water shortages are widespread. At the same time, environmental, nature and climate protection only ranked fourth (34 per cent) when asked about the most important issues that politics should address. At the top of the list are healthcare and care (56 per cent), inflation and falling purchasing power (48 per cent), followed by education, schools and universities (37 per cent). In international comparison, there are some significant differences in prioritisation. Almost two thirds of all respondents (62 per cent) agree with the statement that "climate and environmental protection measures [are] socially unjust, as they are a particular burden on low earners". The approval ratings for this statement are particularly high for instance in Germany (67 per cent), France (71 per cent), Croatia (72 per cent) and Turkey (73 per cent). The figures show that it can be assumed that climate policy measures can be viewed critically or even rejected if they are likely to increase inflationary pressure and individual disadvantages are to be expected.

Approval is highest where the state provides funding

Accordingly, approval of individual measures are highest where state support is available or no disadvantages are expected. For example, 92 per cent of respondents are in favour of a reduction in public transport prices. 87 per cent are in favour of a more consistent switch to renewable energies. When it comes to the specific question of how the heating transition should take place, a majority of 69 per cent are in favour of state subsidies as a mechanism. However, there are significant differences between the individual milieus.

Majority wishes for a socially just transformation of the economy

"As the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, we not only wanted to find out what perceptions, interests and fears people associate with the socio-ecological transformation, where there is broad support and where there are barriers. We also wanted to investigate how receptive different social milieus are to climate policy measures and what conditions need to be met for a measure to be accepted," says Claudia Detsch, who is the Director of the study project at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. "Our study shows that the majority of people are in favour of consistent climate protection measures. However, they refuse to be patronised. And it is very clear that a large majority would like to see a socially just transformation of our economy and our way of life. In addition, politicians need to explain their measures much better, as our figures also show. If politicians want to win over certain milieus, or at least not lose them, then there is no way around state support for socio-ecological change."

Methodology:

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's Competence Centre for Climate and Social Justice commissioned the SINUS Institute to conduct a population survey. The survey covers 19 European and North American countries: Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Canada, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary, the United Kingdom and the USA. The study design was based on quantitative, population-representative surveys with a sample size of at least 1,200 people between the ages of 18 and 69 per country (22,823 cases in total). The survey period: 20 April - 23 May 2023. The aim of the survey was not only to capture a panorama of climate policy attitudes along the classic socio-demographic criteria. Rather, the aim was also to investigate the extent to which different social milieus are receptive to climate policy measures and which prerequisites must be met for this. For this purpose, the target group model of the internationally comparable Sinus-Meta-Milieus was integrated into the survey design and an additional 29 statements representing typical values of different lifeworlds of the respondents were asked.

Links

The complete study, country reports and the international comparison, as well as further information, including the methodology, can be found on the website.

https://justclimate.fes.de/survey-attitudes-towards-the-social-ecological-transformation.html

Contact:

Claudia Detsch, Head of FES Competence Centre Climate & Social Justice

Phone: +32 470 70 46 34 | E-Mail: claudia.detsch(at)fes.de