Sozialökologisches Panel - Klimaneutralität im Meinungsbild
Zwischen Zustimmung, Kostenbedenken und Zweifel an der Umsetzbarkeit
Under the Climate Protection Act, Germany has committed to becoming climate-neutral by 2045 at the latest – five years earlier than the European Union. A survey conducted by the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research as part of the Socio-Ecological Panel (SÖP), carried out in collaboration with the opinion and social research institute forsa and funded by the E.ON Foundation, examined how German citizens assess the goal of climate neutrality and what their understanding of this goal is. The public’s understanding and acceptance of political measures and targets are closely linked to their successful implementation, as public support is a key prerequisite for the legitimacy and practical feasibility of such measures. Against this background, the main objectives of the survey included finding out what the public understands by climate neutrality, how realistic they consider the achievement of Germany’s climate neutrality target to be, and whether, and under what conditions, they support this goal. To this end, 2,590 German citizens who are members of the Socio-Ecological Panel and were aged 18 or over at the time of the survey were interviewed. The survey took place between 23 October and 12 November 2025.
E.ON Foundation