Survey: Climate crisis is taking a back seat for employees

Berlin. According to a survey, concerns about the climate crisis are now playing only a minor role among employees. Only just over one in ten employees surveyed considers achieving climate protection goals to be the most urgent social problem. The survey was conducted by the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics (WZGE) on behalf of the corporate foundation of the energy company E.ON.

This means that other social challenges are becoming more important in the perception of employees: reducing social inequality (17 percent), securing jobs (15 percent) and resolving geopolitical conflicts (14 percent).

"People are paying more attention to economic and less to ecological sustainability," write the survey authors. In 2025, the proportion of respondents who identified "ensuring competitiveness" as the most pressing social problem tripled compared to 2022.

Nevertheless, a large majority of respondents still favor a faster or at least a constant pace of the climate-neutral transformation of industry. Almost half believe more speed is necessary, while another 30 percent consider the current pace sufficient. One in five respondents stated that the transformation should proceed more slowly.

"People see climate neutrality as an opportunity for the economy, not an obstacle," said WZGE CEO Martin von Broock. "That's why they're demanding better incentives from politicians, not less effort."

The WZGE has now conducted the survey for the third time. More than 2,000 current and future employees were interviewed in February 2025. The survey was conducted online.

The climate crisis has also recently lost significance in global politics—not only because the US, under President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that she will grant European car manufacturers a "breathing space" and give them more time to comply with EU climate protection regulations.

Those who fail to meet the 2025 targets, for example, can compensate by exceeding them in subsequent years. Previously, car manufacturers had to comply with the limits annually.

In addition, the EU Commission is reviewing the so-called "combustion engine phase-out" earlier than previously planned. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas announced in Brussels that this review will take place this year, rather than in 2026 as originally planned. Von der Leyen emphasized that no technology will be ruled out from the outset in this review.

RND/dpa