54% of the Swiss population wants climate protection to be a stronger political focus

The presence of the Glacier Initiative and the Initiative against Mass Animal Husbandry on the political stage in Switzerland in 2022 clearly show that climate and environmental protection is a hotly discussed and important issue that is also of utmost concern to the people of Switzerland. This applies to such an extent that, for example, more than half of the Swiss population would like to see climate protection more firmly anchored in Swiss legislation. This is just one of a number of conclusions drawn from a representative study recently conducted by LINK on the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5. A YouGov study that was simultaneously carried out in Germany examined the same aspects and provides fascinating comparisons.

97% of the Swiss population would adapt their own lifestyles to protect the environment

The results of the study clearly show that the issue of “environmental and climate protection” is important to the Swiss population, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents stating that they generally or strongly agree with this statement. In Germany, the number is slightly lower, with 63% of respondents declaring that the issue is important to them. In Switzerland, this tendency is generally strong among older generations (60 to 79-year-olds: 78%) than among younger members of the population (15 to 29-year-olds: 66%). Nonetheless, the majority of people in all generations expressed that they are interested in the issue. Within this context, the most prevalent concerns among the population involve a lack of natural resources, the loss of biodiversity and the increasing frequency of natural disasters. While glacial retreat and deglaciation are one of the top 5 concerns among the Swiss, rising ocean temperatures are at the other end of the scale, which is no surprise given the geography of Switzerland.

In general, nearly all Swiss residents, namely 97%, stated that they would be willing to make at least a few changes to their lifestyles in order to reduce damage to the environment. A considerable proportion of the population (41%) could even imagine making a large number of changes to support this cause, while respondents in Germany were less willing to do so, with just 33% answering positively. What’s more, many Swiss respondents have already put these intentions into action – more than three-quarters (78%) of the survey participants already consciously avoid disposing of their waste carelessly outdoors to take the strain off the environment. For the same reason, a large proportion of the Swiss population purchases seasonal and regional products (65% each), uses fabric bags rather than plastic bags (60%) and favors walking, cycling or using public transport more frequently (52%).

The majority of the Swiss respondents (55%) believe that the issue of “environmental and climate protection” is not treated as urgently as necessary by the world of politics. They consider the conversion to renewable energies (66%) and reducing food waste (61%) to be particularly important priorities. A particularly interesting result given the vote likely to take place this autumn is that 33% of the population believes that the abolishment of mass animal husbandry is an important political issue. Interestingly enough, the survey also revealed that the conversion to renewable energies is a priority for 71% of the oldest generation but just 59% of the youngest generation. The situation in Germany is somewhat different: while reducing food waste is deemed to be the most urgent issue (50%), the conversion to renewable energies only comes second (46%), followed by the re-vegetation of urban spaces in third place (43%).

40% of the Swiss population believes that the topic of “environmental and climate protection” is not covered by the Swiss media to a sufficient extent. This view is particularly strong among the youngest generation of 15 to 29-year-olds (47%).

Demonstrations and making climate protection a stronger political focus are particularly popular among young people

The majority of Swiss respondents, namely 76%, have already supported companies or organizations that are consciously committed to environmental and climate protection – in particular by purchasing environmentally friendly products (56%), donating (34%) and signing petitions (20%). An age difference also comes to light here: 64% of 60 to 79-year-olds have already contributed to the cause by purchasing environmentally friendly products, while less than half of 15 to 29-year-olds (48%) have followed.

Participation in environmental/climate protection demonstrations tells a different story, with a clear majority of the population, 81%, stating that they have never attended such an event and do not plan to either. The results do, however, confirm that younger generations are more frequently involved in climate demonstrations, for example those connected to the “Fridays for Future” movement: with a total of 17%, the generation of 15 to 29-year-olds contains the largest number of people who have already participated in such a demonstration by far. Nevertheless, this generation also has a very high proportion of individuals who do not intend to ever be part of a climate protection demonstration, namely 70%.

Despite these results, the survey clearly reveals that the population sees a need for political action. With a total of 54%, more than half of the Swiss respondents would welcome the stronger incorporation of the issue of climate protection into Swiss legislation. This result yet again shows that the youngest survey participants in particular recognize the urgency of this requirement, with more than a quarter (26%) of 15 to 29-year-olds stating that they would fully advocate a stronger involvement of climate protection in Swiss politics. Although the result among all German respondents is slightly lower at 49%, this still clearly represents a large proportion of the population in favor of the stronger incorporation of climate protection in the constitution.

You can download the study documentation for free via the link below. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning the study. You can also find a link to the corresponding YouGov publication below.

An overview of the study

Method: Online survey conducted with the LINK panel and the YouGov Germany panel

Swiss population: 1,224 language-assimilated respondents aged between 15 and 79 and resident in German, French and Italian-speaking Switzerland. The random sample of participants was selected via quota sampling and weighted according to age, gender and region (in accordance with the current population statistics of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BfS)).

German population: 2,055 respondents resident in Germany; the data are weighted and representative of the population aged 18 and over.

Study period: May 12 to 18, 2022 (Switzerland) and May 16 to 18, 2022 (Germany)