2023-09-12 11:17:47
Many people in Germany are unclear about the costs of the existing CO2 price. Some people also don’t see that the main goal of pricing should be to protect the climate. This is shown by the results of a representative survey of 6,004 households from the middle of 2022. The new evaluation by the Essen RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research is to be published soon and is available to the FAZ in advance.
Jan Hauser
Editor in business, responsible for real estate.
Accordingly, a majority feels poorly informed about the pricing of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which has applied to gasoline, diesel, heating oil and natural gas in Germany since 2021. The surcharge rose last year to currently 30 euros per ton of CO2. This makes diesel and heating oil more expensive by around 9 cents and gasoline by 8.5 cents per liter and natural gas by 0.7 cents per kilowatt hour. In the following years, the surcharge is expected to increase in order to make fossil fuels more expensive and to help climate-friendly alternatives.
“Politics and science are equally challenged”
In the survey, however, 44 percent stated that the CO2 price does not make activities that emit CO2 more expensive. The adults who were interviewed as part of the social-ecological panel established by the RWI also know little about the individual financial consequences. More than 80 percent of those surveyed correctly stated that the CO2 price is added to fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil and natural gas.
Those 3,079 respondents who commute to work often overestimate their expenses. After you indicate how many kilometers you drive per week, the CO2 price incurs additional costs of a maximum of 12 euros, often just 1 or 2 euros. However, those surveyed assume higher costs and state up to 200 euros per week. 42 percent differ in their estimate by more than 10 euros from the calculated additional costs of commuting. In contrast, only 48 percent say that the CO2 price actually makes driving more expensive. Some mistakenly claim that carbon is priced on kerosene or plastic bags.
Jan Hauser Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 21 Andreas Löschel Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 181 Dennis Kremer Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 48 Helene Bubrowski, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 9
RWI economist Manuel Frondel sees an urgent need for information in the results. “These empirical results question the effectiveness of CO2 pricing,” says the Bochum professor. “Politics and science are equally required to promote the effectiveness of this climate protection instrument through better communication and greater transparency.” Frondel carried out the study with his institute colleagues Jana Eßer, Stephan Sommer and Julia Wittmann. Their report “CO2 pricing in Germany: Level of knowledge of private households in 2022” was carried out as part of the “Social-Ecological Panel – Continuation and Further Development” project, which is funded by the Eon Foundation. The market research institute Forsa surveyed 6,004 people from July 18 to August 6, 2022. Since then, knowledge may have changed due to public discussion.
In the survey, 61 percent stated that a key goal of CO2 pricing is to protect the climate. 30 percent say that the aim is to generate tax revenue, which politicians themselves do not state as a goal. So far, the income from CO2 pricing has not been paid out in the form of climate money, which the coalition had agreed to. Technically, this will only be possible in a few years. Furthermore, according to the survey, those who believe that climate change exists and is caused by humans are better informed about the CO2 price than those who deny the existence of climate change.
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