Germans associate outgoing coalition's climate policy with state control, high costs – analysis

Many people in Germany associate climate policy with state control and the fear of being financially overburdened due to decisions made by the departing coalition government, according to an analysis presented by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Climate Neutrality Foundation, as reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The authors particularly criticised Germany’s focus on a carbon price – an annually increasing levy on carbon emissions intended to encourage people to move towards clean alternatives by raising the cost of dity technologies – which has resulted in people cutting back on consumption in areas like heating and mobility, according to the report. “It should come as no surprise to anyone that there is little social acceptance for this type of climate policy,” said Sara Holzmann, economist and co-author of the study, to Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Two of Germany’s collapsed three-party coalition government parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Green Party, planned to introduce a direct payment for all citizens to compensate for increased costs, but the measure was opposed by the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP). However, Holzmann said that would not be enough, as many people still were unable to afford technologies like heat pumps or electric cars. Instead, she proposed the government invest in infrastructure like local public transport.

“If climate policy is primarily associated with rising living costs, economic insecurity or a feeling of being overburdened, it will not be possible to secure majorities for it in the long term,” said Holzmann and the report's co-author, Frederik Digulla. However, the authors recognised that the costs of addressing the climate crisis are immense and unlikely to be met without relaxing Germany’s ceiling on new debt in the constitution.

Last year, the constitutional court ruled that money earmarked for the government’s climate fund was unlawful, leaving a gap of 60 billion euros in the budget. Senior members of the coalition government subsequently questioned the validity of the so-called debt brake. The number of households saying they cannot adequately heat their homes increased from 3.3 percent in 2021 to 8.2 percent in 2023.