This thesis examines climate policy support and the effect of climate-related fears in East and West Germany. Specifically, this thesis investigates (1) how climate policy support differs between East and West Germany, (2) how various fears, namely climate worry, concerns about environmental policy effectiveness, rising costs, and growing inequality, shape individuals’ support for climate policy, and (3) how these climate-related fears impact climate policy support differently in East and West Germany.
This study makes use of a theoretical framework grounded in postmaterialist theory, rational choice theory and value-belief-norm theory. The study employs the dataset of the environmental awareness study 2022 in Germany (Umweltbewusstseinstudie 2022), which includes a total 2,073 observations and adheres to strict standards of data collection. The research methodology involves conducting a statistical analysis, including t-tests and regression analysis. The Stata 18 software is used for this purpose.
The findings show that support for climate policy is higher in West Germany than in East Germany. Climate worry and concern about environmental policy effectiveness positively affect climate policy support, while concern about rising costs and growing inequality negatively affect climate policy support. Exploring regional differences, the findings reveal that climate worry has a bigger effect in East Germany than in West Germany. Further, concern about environmental policy effectiveness has a greater impact in West Germany than in East Germany. Interestingly, associating with the AfD (German extreme right party) has a greater negative impact on climate policy support in East Germany than in West Germany.