New results of the Planetary Health Action Survey

The October survey shows that the willingness to take action for greater climate protection has fallen slightly since measurements began in 2022, but has remained stable in recent waves. The summer of 2026 had a direct impact on many people in Germany. Around half of those surveyed experienced withered vegetation, dried-up bodies of water or poorer sleep due to the heat to a fairly significant or significant extent. Just under two-thirds see climate change as a major cause of the heat. Around half of those surveyed have not noticed any action at all from the federal government since the start of the summer, neither on climate protection or adaptation, nor on protection against heatwaves, forest fires, drought or heavy rainfall. The largest group (42 per cent) considers the current climate protection measures to be insufficient; this proportion has risen (April: 38 per cent). Only 17 per cent have confidence in the federal government’s handling of the climate crisis.

Few expect any progress from the international climate conference COP31 either: only one in five is confident that Germany will step up its climate protection measures following the conference. Many therefore want more climate protection, but do not expect politicians to take action. This is consistent with the fact that respondents consider changes in their own behaviour to be just as effective in reducing CO₂ emissions as political measures.

In the latest survey, the researchers recorded “climate emotions” for the first time and investigated how these relate to a willingness to take action. The result: it is not the case that positive emotions, as opposed to negative emotions, lead to a greater willingness to take action (or vice versa). Instead, it depends on how people assess climate change: those who perceive it as a serious threat experience feelings of recognition; those who downplay the threat or distance themselves from it experience defensive feelings. Defensive emotions, which are associated with significantly lower levels of engagement, are more widespread than emotions associated with recognising climate change as a threat.

Against the backdrop of these findings and those from earlier PACE waves, the researchers therefore suggest the following: 

• Explain effectiveness: Those who consider climate protection measures to be effective are more likely to support them, and respondents tend to underestimate the impact of political measures compared with their own behaviour. In previous experiments, acceptance increased when the specific savings achieved by a measure were explained. This suggests that, when communicating measures, their benefits should be backed up with comprehensible figures.
• Making action visible: Around half of those surveyed did not perceive any action on the part of the federal government following the hot summer. Heat protection, forest fire prevention or protection against heavy rainfall could be made more recognisable as part of climate policy. However, it cannot be deduced from the data whether this alone would strengthen the current low level of trust.
• Putting extreme weather into context: Those who attribute the heat to climate change are more likely to support climate protection measures. Personal experience alone, on the other hand, is hardly associated with greater support. When reporting on heatwaves, droughts or heavy rainfall, it may be useful to explicitly highlight the link to climate change – for example, through scientists, doctors and the Robert Koch Institute, whom many people trust.

Details of the findings can be found on the PACE website.

Did you know?
A new website now allows you to assess your own willingness to take action and compare it with the results from previous waves of the survey. If you wish, you can share the data for further scientific use.