Climate lead over economy shrinks in German voter priorities – survey

Climate action has dropped in German voters’ priorities vs economic growth over the course of the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), which has close links to the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). Of the three topics surveyed – immigration, climate protection and the welfare state – “the strongest shift in German attitudes in recent years has been on the issue of climate protection,” KAS said.

On average, people still said that climate action should have priority even if it hurts the economy. However, “in the context of current domestic and foreign policy crises, the tendency in society as a whole to prioritise climate protection over economic growth has weakened considerably,” said KAS.

Following the collapse of Germany’s three-way coalition government in November, the country is now heading for snap elections in late February. Fewer respondents – particularly among supporters of chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), Conservatives (CDU/CSU), and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) – agreed with the statement that climate action should enjoy priority over economic growth, compared to previous editions of the survey around 2020.

But while only around a quarter of Conservative voters and one fifth of SPD supporters agreed with the statement “climate protection is too expensive for me”, the same was true for more than half of the supporters of AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new left-wing anti-immigrant and pro-Russia party.

The lower prioritisation of climate action poses a challenge for policymakers, KAS noted. “While large sections of the population attach great importance to the issue and are willing to adapt their behaviour in everyday life, climate protection is also associated with rising costs,” KAS said. “Parts of the population - especially in the AfD and BSW camps - are not only more sceptical, but also less financially able to support further climate protection measures.”

Overall, social polarisation has not increased since 2020, according to the results. “A majority of the population continues to hold centrist positions on political issues,” KAS said. But while the supporters of individual parties have become more homogeneous in their political attitudes, the distances between different voter camps have grown. “Polarisation between party supporters is increasing. The gap between Green and AfD voters in terms of political attitudes is widening. Group-based rejection of the other side has also increased.”