Current climate policy risks increasing social tensions, warns German government report
Clean Energy Wire
Climate policies that do not account for resident's income risk increasing social divisions, as CO2 prices place a particular burden on poorer households while the wealthy cause twice the emissions, a German government report warned.
Germany's rising CO₂ prices lead to higher heating and transport costs, which account for a larger proportion of poorer households’ budgets, the report said. At the same time, they often lack the financial resources for climate-friendly investments such as building renovations or electric cars that could lower those costs.
Low-income households spend up to 13 percent of their budget on energy, more than twice as much as wealthy households, according to the Government’s annual Poverty and Wealth report, which for the first time included a large chapter on the social challenges of climate change and decarbonisation. The report proposed a “social monitoring” mechanism to keep the social impacts of decarbonisation policies permanently in check, and instruments to compensate low-income households for rising energy and CO2 costs.
“Climate change and social inequalities are closely linked. In Germany, households with very high incomes cause on average more than twice as many climate-damaging emissions as households with very low incomes,” said the report, which called for socially balanced climate policies.
“Conversely, the unchecked progression of climate change carries social risks, particularly for low-income and vulnerable groups, as they have few means to adapt to the changing climatic conditions. Climate change therefore has the potential to exacerbate social inequalities.”
The report also stresses that climate policies offer a chance to improve social justice. “An energy supply independent of global crises, an improved living environment in renovated buildings, and a higher quality of life in cities with fewer health risks from heat and UV exposure, as well as from pollutants and road traffic noise, are just some of these opportunities.”
Brigitte Knopf, who heads the think tank Zukunft KlimaSozial and was one of Germany's chief climate policy advisors until last summer, said the report underlined that the shift to climate neutrality requires explicit social planning. “It is important that this is also reflected in political measures, particularly in the Climate Action Programme, which is due to be adopted in the new year, and that sufficient financial resources be made available for this purpose.”
