Germans say climate crisis will have larger long-term effects than coronavirus – poll

Almost 60 percent of Germans said the climate crisis will have larger long-term effects than the coronavirus in a poll conducted by Forsa for the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). Twenty-three percent said the two crises would have equal long-term impacts. Around 1,000 citizens were polled at the end of April. Eighty-six percent said it was either "important" or "very important" that the government include environmental and climate protection as part of its coronavirus investment programmes. This lay slightly below support for investing in the healthcare system, regional economy, medium-sized businesses, and social equality. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they were in favour of a continued expansion of renewable energies in order to reduce imports of fossil fuels. Nine out of ten found it "good" or "very good" to include more scientific opinions and analyses in other areas such as climate change in future decision-making processes.  

Half of the respondents in a separate poll conducted by YouGov for green power provider Lichtblick said it was "very important to them" that economic stimulus packages to revive the economy were targeted at promoting environmentally and climate-friendly technologies and companies. A further 12 percent agreed with the statement that enironmentally-friendly companies and technologies should be supported, even though climate change was "no longer so important." YouGov polled around 2,000 citizens between 30 April and 4 May 2020.