Fears of structurally weak places
For “the bypassed” climate policy is a threat
From Sarah Platz
2/10/2022, 4:59 p.m
It is often said that one should not forget the people in structurally weak regions in the debate about climate measures. However, they rarely speak. Climate change is worrying them, too, says a study. However, other issues have priority.
Germany is on the verge of an upheaval. The new federal government wants to “dare more progress” and react to the climate crisis with fundamental changes. It is still unclear what this upheaval should look like. Who bears the higher CO2 prices? Where are the wind turbines that are to be used to achieve the energy transition being built? What does a climate policy look like that does not fuel social injustice in Germany? These are just a few of the many challenges. The question of how people in structurally weak areas see the future of their country, their environment and themselves is rarely asked.
Above all, they often feel left out, like a current one study found out. Many people in structurally weak regions also fear that existing social injustice will be exacerbated by climate policy. The authors of the Berlin think tank are responsible for the study “The Progressive Center” and the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation traveled through four structurally weak regions in western and eastern Germany. In Bitterfeld-Wolfen, in the Ruhr area, in the Saarbrücken regional association and in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, they held 217 door-to-door calls about future concerns and political challenges.
For many respondents, the climate crisis plays an important role alongside social justice. Around 27 percent stated that environmental and climate protection are among the biggest problems of the future – albeit more as a social, abstract challenge. When asked about specific and regional fears about the future, the answer was clear: the feeling of being left behind causes the majority of concerns (54.4 percent). However, they are not afraid that their place of residence could one day be left behind, “but that it will remain so in the future,” write the authors. So you already feel left behind.
Everyday life suppresses climate concerns
Most of them have very specific wishes, such as strengthening the public infrastructure or having cultural and leisure activities revived in their area. The authors put it in a nutshell: “As long as the basic needs of life in these regions are not secured, climate and environmental protection appear to be of secondary importance.”
These social needs have very different meanings for those affected: For a 45-year-old from Quierschied in Saarland, it is “the gap between rich and poor”, while a 65-year-old from Bitterfeld complains that when it comes to retirement provision, “many are forgotten who have worked all their lives”. The dwindling social cohesion is also a major issue for many. What is striking, however, is that those surveyed are less concerned about their own future than about that of their children, grandchildren and their region.
According to the study, 16 percent of the population are affected – around 13 million people live in Germany in structurally weak regions. The average income there is 3148 euros. The places are characterized by a high average age, weak economic performance and a lack of public transport. A “better redistribution policy” was therefore the answer most frequently given to the question “What would you do if you were chancellor?”.
“Those above are incompetent”
These existing deficits also shape the view of climate policy for those affected. “The little man will always be the payer, whether it’s climate change or fuel prices,” fears a 72-year-old from Bitterfeld. “And who is dependent on the old cars? The ones that hardly have anything.” Others fear having to find a second job to make ends meet. A core message of the study is therefore: “People in structurally weak regions do not see themselves as designers, but as those affected.”
According to the study, politics also makes a significant contribution to this. A majority thinks that “those up there are incompetent” and that they are acting selfishly and in line with their own interests. Paulina Fröhlich, one of the authors of the study, calls it the feeling of “double insignificance”: The material decay of the region is accompanied by the impression of not being noticed by those who could change something.
Respondents have little trust in decision-makers. They depend on broad acceptance if they want to implement climate policy measures. “The local people can then be won over to change,” says economist Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research, “if they become designers of their own future.”
How it could work
This is exactly where the study’s recommendations for action come in. The affected regions are “not only structurally weak, but – due to previous structural upheavals – also rich in experience”. This must be used to successfully manage the upheaval. According to the authors, three factors are needed for this: money, creative power and hearing. For example, public investments could be made in the local energy industry or climate-friendly measures in everyday life.
In order to transfer part of the shaping power to the population, the study proposes “transformation clusters”, i.e. institutions whose advisory bodies also include broad sections of society. In addition, there is an urgent need for direct offers of talks. This is also emphasized by a 25-year-old from Greppin in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district: “The fact that climate policy is very socially acceptable should be communicated better.”