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Smoking chimneys: The EU is still a long way from being climate neutral
Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa
So far, Peter Altmaier was not noticed as a pioneer in matters of climate protection.
But then the Federal Minister of Economics announced a few days ago that he was planning a large, cross-party offensive on climate protection.
With this, the CDU politician also wants to help the European Union (EU) achieve its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050.
Altmaier is optimistic and speaks of a "historical compromise" (read an analysis here).
However, the majority of Germans have little hope that the goal of a climate-neutral EU will be achieved by 2050.
This is the result of a survey by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of SPIEGEL.
According to this, only a good 17 percent of Germans consider it very or more likely that the EU will achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Almost three quarters of those surveyed, on the other hand, are of the opinion that it is very or rather unlikely that the goal will be achieved.
Almost eleven percent were undecided in their answer.
The pessimism is similar in all parts of the country.
The people in West Germany seem a bit more optimistic.
There, 18.4 percent of those surveyed consider it likely that the goal will be achieved.
In the east it is only 12.3 percent.
GroKo supporters most confident
Even with a view to different political sympathies, it becomes clear that supporters of all parties are not very optimistic.
Supporters of the GroKo parties are still the most confident.
According to the SPIEGEL survey, more than 22 percent of Union supporters consider it likely that the EU will become climate neutral by 2050.
For supporters of the Social Democrats, it is more than a quarter of those surveyed.
In contrast, only around 16 percent of the Greens sympathizers consider it likely that the goal will be achieved.
At the FDP it is around 14 percent.
For leftists and AfD, the share is in the single-digit percentage range.
There are few differences between the age groups, although the sampling errors here are sometimes very large.
The respondents between 18 and 29 years of age - the group that will probably feel the consequences of climate change the most - differ only minimally in their assessment from the age group 65 and over.
In both cases, only around 18 percent of those surveyed consider it likely that the EU will achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
For 30 to 39 year olds this proportion is around 17 percent, for 40 to 49 year olds around 19 percent.
In the age group between 50 and 64, only around 15 percent of those surveyed consider it likely that the goal will be achieved.
The sample size of the SPIEGEL survey is 5000 people.
The survey took place between September 11 and 14.
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