Interview in Newspaper Die Zeit - Prof. Dr. Stefan C. AykutSocial unrest is politically avoidable

22 August 2022, by CSS

Photo: UHH/Ohme

CSS Director Stefan C. Aykut has been interviewed by "Zeit online", talking about his research and the idea of the "societal responsibility of climate change" [gesellschaftliche Trägerschaft des Klimawandels]. Read a translated extract below:

For the climate turnaround to succeed, politics and civil society are needed in equal measure. How they can work together, is the subject of research by sociologist Stefan Aykut.

Zeit online: Stefan Akyut, what are you thinking about at the moment?

Stefan Aykut: What I am currently thinking about as a sociologist is closely related to the political present, namely the strong acceleration of the climate crisis, which we are currently experiencing in the form of fires and drought, but also in floods and extreme weather events. Added to this is the war in Ukraine and with it the question of the necessary acceleration of the energy transition in Europe. I therefore ask myself: How can we achieve decarbonization even faster, and as a task for society as a whole? So far, the focus has been too narrowly on economic and technical events or on energy markets. However, it is the societal responsibility for climate change that deserves our attention. The National Academy of Science of the United States rightly states: The main hurdles to the necessary change to phase out fossil energies are no longer technical or economic, but above all social and political.

You can read the complete article here [in German].