Since Greta Thunberg and the “Fridays for Future”, the climate crisis and the topic of sustainability have never been more present, both in private life and in the business world. In cooperation with the opinion research institute OnePoll, we carried out a representative study of 1,000 German employees to find out how Germans rate their employers with regard to sustainability, and what they themselves are willing to do in terms of environmental protection in the office and in everyday life.

Almost a third would like more management involvement

23.5% of the respondents stated that their employer does nothing for environmental protection or that it is not clear whether and how their own company is committed to environmental protection. According to the survey, 38% of offices use recycled paper, but just under every third company has a waste disposal system. In a global comparison, Germany is in fourth place with 250 kg per year in terms of paper consumption. According to information, only every fifth company follows an environmental management system. The public sector brings up the rear: 36% of those questioned said that their company did not make any contribution to environmental protection in the form of an environmental management system. In the manufacturing trade / industry, in contrast, it was only 10%.

Amazingly, 70% believe that climate protection is not a priority for their employer. The study found that it pays for companies to invest in environmental protection. Almost half of the respondents would check a potential employer for their attitude towards sustainability before applying for a job advertised there. Almost two thirds said that a lack of respect for and commitment to sustainability by employers is just as bad as ignoring integration and diversity in the workplace. 58% would feel more motivated with a climate-neutral employer, 56% more productive.

It is therefore not surprising that every second employee expects more commitment from the employer with regard to environmental protection. When asked what they think needs to be done to make their own workplace more environmentally friendly, 33% said that more grants would be needed, while almost a third (31.5%) would like more management commitment.

The climate expert Dr. Michael Bilharz from the Federal Environment Agency interprets this as an important message, “that there is still a lot of room for improvement in companies when it comes to including the employee level in environmental efforts.”

133 of the 1000 respondents see black instead of green: Over 10% believe that their employer would never become more environmentally friendly under any circumstances – the green office would therefore remain unrivaled.

Knowledge (or money?) is power

Almost 40% of the respondents agreed that their employer does nothing to educate them about environmental protection and does not inform their employees about this issue in any way. At the same time, however, only 11% of employees would contribute to this education and set up a CO2 group in the workplace or join an existing group. More than a quarter admit that they simply don’t know what else they can do to help protect the climate.

The survey also showed that some employees are skeptical about the issue: 14% of those surveyed do not believe in human-made climate change. 15% would be more committed to protecting the environment if they had solid evidence that global warming is man-made.

In addition to a lack of knowledge about climate protection, money seemed to be a decisive factor: 40% wished that a green lifestyle was cheaper and 22% said they simply couldn’t afford a more sustainable lifestyle.

According to our study, people do not change their attitude towards climate protection when they have children. Even if they knew that the quality of life would improve for future generations, only 24% of the parents surveyed would be willing to do more to protect the environment. Only 6% of the childless respondents would do more if they had children.

Taking small steps towards climate protection

In terms of their private life, 80% of those questioned were willing to change their lifestyle in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Most of the respondents would make the following changes for the sake of the environment:

• In the future, cover short distances on foot or by bike (57%)
• Waste separation / recycling at work (46%)
• Give up single-use plastics (44%)
• Buy organic food (41%)

These changes, however, do not have the desired effect: According to calculations by the management consultancy AT Kearney, the per capita emissions of CO2 would only decrease by 3 kg per year if we did without single-use plastics (with an average of 11 tons of CO2 consumption per person per year).

Few would be willing to accept more drastic changes in their lifestyle:

• 21% would refrain from consuming meat
• 19% would give up their diesel / gasoline car
• 10% would move to a smaller home

According to A.T Kearney’s calculations, avoiding meat would save 790 kg of CO2 per person, which would make a considerable difference at 11 tons per year. For comparison: doing without one flight a year saves 680 kg of CO2.

Critical of climate compensation

A drastic change in life is not possible for very few. The easiest and fastest way to live climate neutral is, according to our expert Dr. Michael Bilharz to offset their own carbon footprint. He recommends organizations like Atmosfair or MyClimate for this. For a payment of around € 250 per year, enough projects are supported to avoid the average 11 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from a German elsewhere.

8.3% of our respondents stated that they already pay € 250 a year to offset their carbon footprint. Almost 20% would like to do it in the future. Almost one in four would spend money on climate compensation if there was a subsidy from the employer. However, almost half would not be willing to make this payment.

What is stopping the respondents from doing this? Opinions were divided on this question:

• 43% find it too expensive
• 43% think they shouldn’t be responsible for this payment
• 39% do not trust the climate compensation
• 17% admitted not understanding how climate compensation works

Gender-specific differences

A direct comparison of the sexes revealed interesting trends. In general, it can be said that money is the biggest factor that women claim to prevent them from actively contributing to climate protection. For men, on the other hand, the results of the study suggest a lack of responsibility and background knowledge on the subject. Men are more skeptical about climate compensation (44% do not trust it, compared with 32% of women). One in six men actually doesn’t believe in human-made climate change, and only half as many women.

In terms of their lifestyle, men would be most willing to buy products in the highest energy efficiency classes for the sake of the environment (41%). For women, on the other hand, avoiding single-use plastics comes first (47%).

When it comes to transport, the genders are relatively unanimous:

• Short distances want to be covered by bike or on foot (60% of women vs. 55% of men).
• 18% of women and 19% of men would do without a car entirely.
• For the sake of the environment, 20% of women and 17% of men would no longer board a plane.

There were huge differences in terms of diet: Almost 28% of the women surveyed would avoid meat for the sake of the environment, compared to only 15% for men. Almost every second person (43%) would forego animal products, compared to only 28% for men. More than a third of men are not ready to change their diet in any way, compared to just under a quarter of women.

Young optimism

The study also showed a large difference between the generations, both in terms of knowledge and willingness to make sacrifices. Nevertheless, Generation Z & Co. are more optimistic:

• Only 4% of Generation Z employees (22 years old and younger) believe that their own workplace will never be greener, with Baby Boomers (55 to 73 years old) 20% who are black instead of seeing green.
• 93% of Gen Z think their employer should do more to protect the environment, compared to 75% of Baby Boomers.
• 38% of Generation Z believe knowledge is key to a greener workplace; only 24% of baby boomers share this opinion.

First and foremost among those over 22 years of age are financial grants as a solution to make the workplace more environmentally friendly. When it comes to climate compensation, the younger generation are more courageous than the older generation: Supporters of Generation Z offset their carbon footprint three times as often as baby boomers, although statistically speaking, baby boomers have more money at their disposal.

Your own contribution is underestimated

The study also found that the majority of German employees underestimated their own contribution to climate change. Almost a third of those questioned believe that they do not pollute the environment significantly. 27% stated that they were already living in a climate-neutral way (as a reminder: only 8% are currently offsetting their carbon footprint).

Nonetheless, 3 out of 4 respondents assured that they would actively reduce their own environmental impact in the next 12 months. The majority relates to private life (62%), while 23% said they would encourage their employer to do more to protect the environment.

All in all, there is good reason to hope for a green future!