In Germany, the wealthy in particular rely on sustainable financial investments.

Overall, too, there is increasing acceptance of investments that are geared towards the environment, social issues and corporate governance.

Nevertheless, a survey by the Hamburg-based private bank M. M. Warburg & Co available to the FAZ still reveals major doubts among the population about sustainable financial products.

Among the 514 high net worth individuals with fixed assets of more than one million euros who were surveyed by the Berlin market research institute Civey in December, 30.8 percent said they certainly did not invest in these investment products.

Markus Frühauf

Editor in business.

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In the total population, whose survey is based on 2553 participants, 31.8 percent are certain that they will never invest sustainably.

Almost 30 percent don't know yet.

Among the wealthy there are only 16 percent who cannot yet commit themselves.

But the 16 percent who might want to invest in sustainable products are also uncertain.

This proportion is similarly high in the general population.

The fact that the EU Commission has now classified nuclear power as a transitional technology and thus suitable for sustainable financial products can again provoke greater reluctance in this group, which could imagine green investments in the future.

As the Warburg survey shows, the participants who have not yet invested in sustainable products most frequently cite doubts about trustworthiness.

Among the skeptical rich it is 34.3 percent and among the doubters in the general population it is almost 40 percent.

In these groups, the proportions of those who consider sustainable offers from banks, insurers or investment companies to be opaque are also high: 27.2 percent (high net worth) and 30 percent (general population).

Greenwashing is a cause for concern

"Providers of investment solutions, investment advisors and asset managers should definitely take these reservations seriously," warns Daniel Hupfer, Head of Portfolio Management at Warburg.

Some of the concerns could be explained by the complexity of the subject.

On the one hand, it is not trivial to objectively measure the sustainability of companies or projects across industries and countries.

On the other hand, Hupfer also refers to concerns about greenwashing, i.e. that products advertised as sustainably do not actually serve climate and environmental protection.

Nevertheless, more and more Germans are investing in sustainable products.

Among the rich, the figure is 30.9 percent, eight percentage points more than in the April and May poll.

In the general population, the proportion of sustainable investors increased from 14.7 to 16.1 percent.