How do citizens’ opinions on climate policy measures differ between regions in Germany?

Climate protection measures can gain momentum with citizens’ support, but can also be slowed down when citizens oppose them. A new analysis from the Ariadne project, led by Hertie School Centre for Sustainability faculty: examines citizens’ support of climate protection policies by region, finding that variations in opinions are particularly evident between urban and rural populations and between eastern and western Germany. Understanding these regional nuances, the authors explain, can help policymakers design communication and dialogue campaigns that address citizens’ concerns, starting at the local level.

The researchers from the Hertie School Centre for Sustainability, the Research Institute for Sustainability - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, and RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Reseeach analysed data from two nationally representative surveys: The Social Sustainability Barometer of the Energy and Transport Transition and the Ariadne Heat & Housing Panel. Using a multilevel regression and poststratification model, they estimated the average population approval of 26 climate protection measures in the energy, transport and heat sectors at the federal state, county and municipal level between 2017 and 2021.

The researchers found regional differences in the approval of individual climate protection measures, these differences are particularly evident between urban and rural populations and between eastern and western Germany. For example, the approval ratings for the question on phasing out coal differ by up to 60 percentage points between different counties, illustrating how individual climate protection measures can polarise the population. At the same time, their results show that in regions where wind turbines and solar plants have been expanded, the approval of these instruments increases over time. In general, people are more positive about subsidies and infrastructure expansion than bans and tax increases.

Especially when it comes to initiatives that affect citizens on a personal level, e.g. a wind turbine being built on the outskirts of a town or the introduction of a speed limit in a city, these insights into opinions on the ground can help local policymakers navigate conversations with their constituents.

The results of the analysis were also covered in the media by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Clean Energy Wire.

An interactive dashboard displaying the results of the analysis can be found here.

Read the full text of the analysis here. (in German)