Germans Disagree with Climate Measures & Firewall Against AfD

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News

A majority of Germans oppose key government climate protection proposals such as banning combustion engines, restricting meat consumption, or imposing flat-rate taxes on air travel, according to a YouGov poll conducted shortly before the 30th UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.

The survey suggests that citizens are more likely to back environmental measures that either benefit them directly or avoid placing major financial burdens on households.

As reported by Stern, 69 percent of respondents said they opposed a ban on diesel and petrol vehicles, while 68 percent were against limiting weekly purchases of meat and dairy products, while 56 percent rejected the idea of higher air travel costs through a flat-rate ticket tax.

Conversely, strong majorities supported subsidies for energy-efficient housing (69 percent), measures to strengthen domestic production (71 percent), bans on single-use plastics (69 percent), and higher taxes on high-emission companies (66 percent).

The German government has pledged to reach climate neutrality by 2045 — sooner than many industrialized nations—but its progress in reducing emissions has slowed, particularly in the transport and housing sectors.

According to the survey, while most Germans agree that climate change is a serious issue and largely caused by human activity, the willingness to change personal behavior remains limited.

Only around a quarter of those surveyed said they would voluntarily reduce air travel or meat consumption, or switch to an electric car.

Even fewer expressed willingness to stop eating animal products altogether or to buy only second-hand clothing. Measures that are convenient or low-cost — such as avoiding single-use plastics or adding greenery to balconies — were far more popular.

Despite a reluctance to alter lifestyles, 46 percent of Germans believe the worst effects of climate change can still be prevented if drastic changes are implemented, while 16 percent think the status quo is sufficient, and 15 percent believe it is already too late to avert the crisis.

Concern about global warming has nonetheless declined: 63 percent say they are worried about the issue, the lowest figure for two years, as global conflicts, inflation, and energy prices take center stage.

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Voters are turning away from the mainstream because they are “disappointed with their policies.”

MICHAEL CURZON for EUROPEAN CONSERVATIVE

Germany’s governing coalition parties are sticking to their guns on their Brandmauer—or, ‘firewall’—policy forbidding any cooperation with the anti-immigration AfD. But they may soon have no choice but to change tack, given that most of their own voters don’t support the practice.

That’s according to a new ARD-DeutschlandTrend ‘special survey’ conducted earlier this month.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacts in the background as the co-leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel delivers a speech during a session at the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, at the Reichstag building in Berlin on October 16, 2025.  Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

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46% of CDU/CSU voter respondents said they support cooperation with the AfD on a “case-by-case basis.” A further 10% went further, saying they generally favour cooperation.

69% of all those surveyed said they agreed with the statement

The AfD will lose strength again if the federal government makes progress in key policy areas.

That happening is, however, far from likely.

Still, the poll’s suggestion that 40% of Union voters—and, indeed, of Germans more broadly—support the complete exclusion of the AfD is concerning in itself. Although, given that those who said they’d vote for the anti-immigration party most commonly cited “disappointment with the policies of the other parties,” this figure is likely to come down.

Indeed, as AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said on Wednesday, “The CDU/CSU doesn’t care what the majority wants.” Speaking in particular about the establishment’s approach to mass migration, she warned that “in states led by the Union parties, turbo-naturalisation is being carried out like crazy. Our country will disappear if this isn’t finally put to a stop.”

Das ist der CDU/CSU egal, was die Mehrheit will. In Unions-geführten Bundesländern wird turboeingebürgert, was das Zeug hält. Unser Land wird verschwinden, wenn dem nicht endlich Einhalt geboten wird. pic.twitter.com/uAPeiK5dEl

— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) November 12, 2025

The AfD is also likely to be aided by the establishment’s phoney insistence that it is seeking to protect democracy by, er, countering the public’s democratic will—such as, in a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, by trying to oust a newly elected AfD deputy mayor.

It is worth noting on this point that more than half of the poll’s respondents said they believe describing the AfD as “undemocratic” only strengthens the party—a view shared by 77% of its supporters.