Akzeptanz von Energie- und Verkehrswende: Resultate des Sozialökologischen Panels für das Jahr 2022
Diskussionspapier
Against the backdrop of the wide range of climate and energy policy measures that have been introduced since the beginning of the decade, this article presents the results of a panel survey from 2022, in which the acceptance and perceived fairness of selected measures for the energy and transport transition were examined. The survey of around 6,000 respondents was part of the panel surveys of the Socio-Ecological Panel established by RWI. The key findings are that the energy transition is supported by an overwhelming absolute majority of almost 90% of respondents and that this support is positively correlated with the respondents' education and net household income. In eastern Germany, however, the energy transition is supported significantly less strongly on average than in western Germany. The information presented in a randomized control experiment on the costs and benefits of the energy transition did not significantly change the acceptance rate compared to the control group, with the exception of one experimental group. Only in the group that was presented with one-sided information on the costs of the energy transition for private households was the acceptance rate around 16 percentage points lower than in the control group, which received no such information. Against the backdrop of the national CO2 pricing, which has now been in place for four years and makes fossil fuels and combustibles more expensive year after year for climate protection reasons, it is somewhat surprising that an absolute majority of 65.6% of participants are against an annual increase in state levies on petrol and diesel prices. An almost equally large proportion of respondents also consider this measure to be unfair.