BS-R-2: Precautions taken among the population | Umweltbundesamt

BS-R-2: Precautions taken among the population

By 2016 the proportion of respondents who consider themselves adequately informed about the climate change risks concerned, had decreased. The survey conducted in 2021 shows an increase in the corresponding proportion to more than two thirds. The perception of individuals to have taken adequate precautionary measures for self-protection was common to more than half of respondents in all surveys.

Still gaps in personal preparedness for emergencies

In order to ensure self-protection, it is not just important to be able to help oneself and others quickly and efficiently in an emergency. Citizens can also take various appropriate measures in their own personal environment to protect themselves from the impacts of weather-related and weather-pattern related situations such as periods of hot weather, storms or heavy rain thus preventing worse outcomes. To this end it is essential that citizens are confident that they are adequately informed about the risks associated with climate change impacts (cf. Indicator BS-R-1). Some of the behavioural responses adapted to extreme weather are more or less part of automatic everyday routines. In that context it is, for example, sensible to avoid physical exertions such as sports in extreme heat, to wear the right clothing for certain temperatures whether at home or at work, to drink plenty of fluids on hot days and to avoid unnecessary long car journeys when weather patterns point towards risky conditions.

While such measures still appear obvious to most, the same cannot be said of precautions required for emergency situations. In Germany, the supply of basic goods and services such as groceries, water, electricity and telecommunications is known to function very well. As a rule, citizens can trust in the reliable functioning of fundamental logistics and infrastructures. But here is the other side of the coin: Given that negative experiences regarding supply and provisioning are rare in Germany, the population is in general less well prepared for exceptional circumstances. Emergency reserves of water, groceries, candles or batteries – held routinely only a few decades ago – are nowadays held only by comparatively few households. However, just by stocking some of these largely basic supplies, citizens can play their part in ensuring that extreme situations do not entail any disastrous outcomes for themselves. It is conceivable that the current situation in respect of the war in Ukraine might induce a change in people’s perceptions prompting them to think again and increasing the population’s willingness to take adequate precautions for themselves.

Apart from the general precaution to stock some emergency rations, it is also of key importance to take structural precautions for the protection of one’s premises from extreme weather events. For example, house owners can protect their own four walls from weather-related and weather-pattern related risks by, in some cases, simple construction measures such as fitting non-return flaps. In this context, the BBK informs house owners not only by means of relevant information leaflets but also by making videos available on a dedicated YouTube channel (https://m.youtube.com/@BBKBund) in order to reach as wide a range of the population as possible. Likewise, the population is informed in alternative ways of the importance of self-protection, for instance by means of an information campaign broadcast on tv, translated as ‘Ready in case’ (cf. Indicator BS-R-1).

A major role in operational aspects of civic protection is played by citizens’ skills and abilities to protect and help themselves by taking various precautionary measures. A person that has taken precautionary measures and is in a position to help themselves and – where possible – others, requires less assistance and is potentially able to take the pressure off emergency relief responders.

In comparison to the outcomes of environmental awareness studies conducted in 2012, 2014 and 2016 as well as the survey conducted in 2021, it becomes clear that the proportion of respondents who inform themselves adequately on impacts of climate change relevant to them personally, was at first declining up to 2016 by 11 %. Compared to a value of still 59 % in 2012, this value had dropped to just 48 % by 2016. However, over a period from 2016 up to the survey conducted in 2021, the corresponding proportion has been rising: Latterly, 67 % – equating two thirds of respondents – stated that they had acquired a sufficient extent of information on the risks associated with climate change. Examining the question whether respondents are taking adequate precautionary measures for themselves, all surveys show that a little more than half of the participants are confident that the measures they are taking are adequate. By 2021 the proportion had risen to 71 %.

For the first time in autumn 2021 the survey on themes related to the ‘Adaptation to climate change’ as part of the environmental awareness study was conducted within the framework of a special survey on environmental awareness which will in future be conducted only every four years. At that time, the severe flood disaster – which had occurred only a few months before in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate – still had a strong presence in the media. It is conceivable that the events in the Ahr valley contributed to raising the population’s level of information on the risks of climate change to an even higher level. Given the high number of losses and severe damage caused by the flood, it is also possible that the disaster played a role in prompting the population to check their own precautionary measures and, where necessary, to implement or augment those measures.

On the other hand, the outcomes of the 2021 survey indicate that some 30 % of respondents consider their information level and their own precautionary measures as inadequate. When interpreting the outcomes, the following limitations should be borne in mind: the statements are based on a subjective understanding of risk information and taking precautions, which makes it impossible to estimate whether respondents who in their own opinion are taking adequate precautions, are in fact largely unaware of any potential gaps in their own preparedness for emergency situations.