The federal government – especially the FDP and the SPD – likes to give the impression that everything is quite simple: in order to achieve climate change, all that is needed is to replace fossil energies with renewable energies. Once the production is set up to be climate (and environmentally) friendly, then the rest will run. Ideally, the voters won’t even notice.
The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) now contradicts this in its presentation on Tuesday Special report “Politics is a duty: facilitating environmentally friendly behavior”. Each and every individual must also change their behavior. Many would also want that, but fail due to unfavorable conditions. It is now up to politics to change that, according to the body that advises the federal government.
Because environmentally and climate-friendly offers would already come to nothing if people didn’t accept them. Example of meat consumption: If the production of meat falls but not the demand for it, more is simply imported. Example smartphones: A phone, no matter how durable, is of no use if people still buy a new one after a few years. Example heating: Specifications for climate-friendly heating may not apply if the owners cannot pay for them or do not know how to use the new technology.
The Advisory Council has prepared the current research for its report and specified it on the basis of the three examples mentioned. The committee recommends using the entire range of political instruments, which ideally build on one another and promise as much support as possible from the population. The income from unpopular price increases could flow into environmental protection or social projects. It also brings more acceptance when people understand the measures and see them as effective – that’s why it’s so important to explain them well. But that’s what’s wrong at the moment.
The experts propose a “right to repair” or a nationwide “repair bonus”.
This also applies to the equally unpopular bans, which are well communicated but may even find more acceptance than other instruments. For example, smoking bans or speed limits: “Such regulations often affect a minority, but they benefit society as a whole and are fair because nobody can ‘buy their way out’,” explains Gerhard Reese, Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Koblenz-Landau, who was not involved in the report .
Specifically, the Advisory Council recommends raising the reduced VAT rate on meat to the regular rate and at the same time abolishing VAT on fruit, vegetables and pulses, which has been possible under EU law since April 2022. More and cheaper vegetarian options in canteens could also help, as could product labelling, such as information on the CO₂ footprint, and more information about nutrition in schools.
To discourage people from replacing their smartphones after a few months or a few years, even though they still work or can be repaired, the panel proposes a “right to repair” or a federal “repair bonus”. The de facto ban on the installation of fossil heating systems from 2024 should in turn be accompanied by better information and financial support for the poorest households.
With material from the Science Media Center