The climate money planned by the federal government is met with skepticism among the population. Many citizens want it to be used for climate-friendly measures.
The climate money planned by the traffic light government is viewed cautiously by the population. This emerges from a current survey by the Ludwig Erhard ifo Center for Social Market Economy in cooperation with the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).
Invest in climate friendly Measures
The experts asked for different variants. The variant of “social climate money”, which would only be paid out up to a gross income of 4,000 euros, is still the most popular: on a scale from minus 3 (rejection) to plus 3 (approval), the average value for this measure is plus 0.8.
Targeted compensation for households that are particularly heavily burdened by the CO2 price is somewhat less popular (plus 0.7). Climate money that would be paid out as a lump sum to all residents is the least popular (plus 0.5).
The proposal to invest the income in climate-friendly measures is the most popular: the average value here is plus 1.5. The second-highest approval rating, at plus 1.1, was for the idea of using the additional revenue from the CO2 price to reduce income tax.
Reason for the reform backlog?
“Our results show that the population prefers climate money paid out specifically to low-income or particularly heavily burdened households over climate money paid out as a lump sum to everyone,” said NIM researcher Michael Zürn. “Although the population does not fundamentally reject climate money, other forms of use for the income from the CO2 price are significantly more popular,” said Sarah Necker, head of the Ludwig Erhard ifo Center for Social Market Economy in Fürth.
According to the study, the opinion of the population differs substantially from the opinions and estimates of experts. “This discrepancy can explain the standstill in climate policy.” The experts speak of a heterogeneous level of interests within the population regarding concrete solutions to achieve climate neutrality.
Possible beginning in 2025
The climate money is intended to help compensate for the financial burden caused by the increased CO2 price, which, among other things, makes air travel, car journeys and heating more expensive. According to the Ifo Institute, it should be designed as a repayment of income in the form of a per capita flat rate. But details are still open. It is also not clear when climate money will be introduced. The start date is currently 2025.