Research finds mixed attitudes to green policies in parts of rural Germany

The two (anonymised) research regions are affected differently by the green transition, but both are characterised by socioeconomic disadvantage, unfavourable economic and demographic trajectories, and features of being left behind.

The study’s findings suggest that communities’ attitudes towards green policies are more ambivalent than often assumed. The researchers argue that rural green discontent represents a demand for more nuanced and participatory approaches to sustainability and environmental governance.

Some of the research’s participants emphasised the urgent implementation of ambitious climate policies and even perceived the associated changes to be an opportunity for rural development. For example, some saw renewable energy expansion as a chance to reduce fossil fuel dependence while also gaining municipal revenues for local infrastructure and service investments. 

But others considered green policies to be ineffective, inconsistent or failed and perceived themselves as being excluded from policy implementation processes. The research highlights how a sense of injustice affects communities’ acceptance of green policies; many participants maintained that the burdens of the green transition are unevenly and unfairly distributed. 

Well-equipped measures to ensure economic diversification and financial support to the people and regions particularly affected by the green transition are essential, the study concludes. The opportunities associated with the green transition should be accessible to the broader population in rural, peripheralised areas. This could include, for example, reinvesting green energy production profits in local public infrastructure. 

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