Majority of Germans feel poorly informed about heating transition plans – survey

A large majority of German voters say that they do not feel well-informed about plans by the federal government to move to climate-friendly heating, shows a survey by pollster infratest dimap, commissioned by public broadcaster ARD. Forty-eight percent feel “less well” informed, while 26 percent say they are “not well-informed at all.” While 45 percent of respondents agree with the general plan to ban climate-damaging heating “in the foreseeable future” (49% disagree), two-thirds (67%) worry that the measures would overburden them financially. A lot depends on how pollsters phrase the questions. Another recent survey by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen asked whether people thought it was good that newly installed heaters would have to be operated with 65 percent renewables from 2024, which 56 percent agreed with (39% against).

The ruling coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Green Party and Free Democrats (FDP) has fought over a controversial plan for a de facto ban on newly installed conventional oil and gas boilers from next year for weeks. Green Party economy minister Robert Habeck had introduced legislation, which the FDP blocked in the parliamentary process. The parties are currently in talks to seek a compromise. Today’s survey by infratest dimap shows that the ruling parties do not convince Germans in the dispute: 47 percent say that none of the three parties are convincing (19% FDP, 14% Greens, 10% SPD).

The survey also shows the far-right AfD with its highest result to date. Eighteen percent say they would vote for the AfD. While most respondents say immigration is the main reason for their choice (65%), 47 percent name “environment, climate and energy issues.” Thus, Deutsche Welle reported that the AfD “profits from the climate change spat.”