Indicator: Commitment to environmental protection | Umweltbundesamt

At a glance

• In the 2024 representative survey, 15 % said they were actively involved in environmental protection and nature conservation. In 2022, the figure was 17 % and in 2020 19 %.
• The indicator shows that the positive trend of previous years has not continued.
• Considering the single-digit percentages for active engagement from 2006 to 2016, the 15 % from 2024 represents a relatively large share in a long-term comparison.

Environmental importance

Our behaviour has an impact on nature and the environment – whether through our work, our leisure activities or the journeys that we make. An ongoing environmental awareness study (in German only) published every two years by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Environment Agency indicates that environmental protection is of great importance to German society (UBA 2025). This study regularly inquires views on environmental policy and environmental protection.

Environmental protection is driven not only by policy, but to a large extent by the work of volunteers. The indicator illustrates the potential for voluntary work in the environmental sector and the number of people already actively involved in environmental associations or similar. Temporary, local environmental projects and activities are particularly relevant for future involvement. There is also great potential to strengthen the commitment to ecologically sustainable change in other areas of civil society involvement and to combine it with the commitment to socially just conditions.

Assessing the development

The indicator shows that the positive trend of previous years has not continued: In 2024, 15 % of the representative sample said they were actively involved in environmental protection and nature conservation. In 2022 and 2020, the figures were 19 % and 17 %.

Prior to 2018, the trend was mixed. Between 2006 and 2016, the share of people reporting active engagement in environmental protection and conservation varied between 6 % and 9 %. The share of people who reported being involved ranged from 35 % to 48 %. This figure rose to 51 % in 2018; this fraction was not recorded in 2020. Alternatively, the willingness to get involved in environmental protection and climate action in the future was surveyed in 2024 and 2022. With 29 % in 2024, this was roughly the same as in 2022 (28 %).

A high level of environmental awareness is not only essential for a sustainable way of living. It is also an important driver for robust environmental policy which can adequately protect natural resources. Thus, voluntary involvement and participation should be further supported by environmental policy.

Methodology

The environmental awareness study has been conducted every two years since 1996. The purpose of this representative survey is to chart the environmental attitudes and behaviour of the German population. In the surveys from 2014 to 2022, young people in the 14 to 17 age bracket were also included. In 2024, the survey was conducted using the PostDirekt method, which is only possible from the age of 18. A detailed investigation into the environmental awareness of young people in Germany was recently carried out in the study ‘Future? Ask the youth! 2023’. Further information on the survey methodology can be found in the publication ‘Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland 2024’ (in German only).

More detailed information: 'Umweltbewusstsein und Umweltverhalten' (in German only).