Most Germans ready to change lifestyle for the climate – survey

A majority of Germans would refrain from short-haul flights (74 percent), eat “significantly” less meat (63 percent) and move without their car in inner cities (56 percent), according to a survey conducted by online pollster YouGov for the news agency dpa. However, the willingness to change aspects of one’s lifestyle decreases if entails additional costs: only a quarter said higher car fuel prices or power prices would be acceptable. However, about every second respondent said it would be acceptable to pay significantly more for a flight ticket.

Environment and climate action has become significantly more important for Germans in the past years, according to the recent Environmental Awareness study conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the environment ministry (BMU). About two-thirds of Germans see environmental and climate action as a very important challenge – 11 percent more than in 2016, when the previous edition of the survey came out. Germans are generally highly supportive of the energy transition in Germany, which decreases when they become personally affected, for example by wind farms in their neighbourhood.