Europeans — especially Germans — are increasingly keen on curbing immigration and are less focused on climate change, according to a study by a Danish-based think tank.

Europe has seen a sharp rise in the share of people who say that reducing immigration should be a top government priority, according to a study published Wednesday. Germany is topping the list.

At the same time, there was less desire to prioritize fighting climate change in the same countries, according to the survey commissioned by the Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation think tank.

Nearly half of German respondents put focus on migration

Since 2022, an increasing number of Europeans say their government should prioritize “reducing immigration,” rising from just under 20% to a quarter.

Meanwhile, concern about climate change was on the slide across the continent.

“In 2024, for the first time, reducing immigration is a greater priority for most Europeans than fighting climate change,” the report said.

Nowhere is this reversal more striking than in Germany, which now leads the world with the highest share of people who want their government to focus on reducing immigration — topping all other priorities — and now nearly twice as high as fighting climate change,” the report read.

  • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    uncontrolled migration is largely caused by the effects of climate change on poor southern countries.

    • werefreeatlast@lemmy.worldBanned
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      2 years ago

      I came to say this exactly. Also I just realized that I would love to move to a beautiful beach area in one of the Pacific facing tropical countries…places where poor people migrate away from… Does that make sense? That having money protects you from climate change? If basically a middle class person from the US can be rich in these poor countries, does that mean that they are less affected? You can afford fruits and vegetables if you have money? What if more rich assholes move into the area? Do they also get to still afford fresh bananas, and strawberries? Something tells me that they would quickly saturate the area like here in Seattle where every event seems to be packed to the brim with people. There’s just a packet room no matter what you choose to do. Hiking? Shoulder to shoulder. Swimming? Sardines in a can. Etc.

  • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I should get my emigration plans ready, I hate the German boomer racism and how it infected the younger population. Fuck racists, no matter how they label themselves.

    • alyth@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I’m in the same boat, almost left in 2022 but didn’t go through with it. Time will tell if I made the right call.

      • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        At least I am all good with living in other countries - done 4 1/2 years in one and 1 year in another and only came back for work contractual reasons. That changed - and it’s good to know the option is not just hypothetical :)

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Climate change is an existential threat. They can see those swarthy heathens filling their cities and stealing their jobs or whatever the fuck they think whenever they see someone of a darker skin tone than themselves.

    Guess what’s going to exacerbate the migration issue, Germany?

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Welp, solve climate change and the migration crisis will go away. (along with stopping the exploitation of resources and interference in poor countries affairs.)

  • bamfic@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Eliminate all borders and let any humam on earth live anywhere on the planet they want to.

  • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    Ameribro here. I’ve hosted a German exchange kid. She was really, really worried about immigration and “preserving German culture”. I pointed out to her that:

    • Culture is not a fixed thing, it’s always drifting a little bit, with or without immigrants. That’s why old people always complain about how different everything is.

    • Germany is actually younger than the US as a state by about a century, and contemporary Germany has really only existed since either the end of WW2 or the fall of the Soviet Union, depending on your view. (IMO, the collapse of East Germany is non-trivial. Her mom was an East German and described to us how they had an entirely separate culture with different groceries and everything and all that just vaporized into nothing when the wall fell, replaced with West German culture almost overnight). So, what does it really even mean to be defending German culture?

    • There’s always hardship when a new group of people arrive, but over time you usually end up with something that’s better than what you had before if you can learn to embrace it. US culture has, in spite of our issues with racism, tangibly benefitted from immigration over the centuries.

    She wasn’t receptive to it. A lot of Europeans who hold anti-immigratiom views insist that it’s different for Europe when they have immigrants than it is for the US. I’ve yet to have one persuasively explain why that’s true and not just whiny exceptionalism.

    • Amoxtli@thelemmy.club
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      2 years ago

      Culture is identity. Isn’t that obvious from looking at different people all over the world? It is true, there is a clash of cultures because everyone is proud of their identity. Nationalism is extremely powerful because it is human instinct to look upon kinship. Humans are social animals.

  • ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I’m in the weird position of wanting both - closed borders and a reversal of climate change, so the next election is going to be interesting for me. They seem to be mutually exclusive in party programs

    • demonsword@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I’m in the weird position of wanting both - closed borders and a reversal of climate change

      then I guess the weird epiteth of “enlightened idiot” fully applies to you

  • TheControlled@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    If you are starting to like a European, especially a German, make sure to ask them their opinions on Syrians and Turks. Their answers may surprise you!

    They sure as fuck surprised me 😰