This paper aims to elucidate how global ecological problems (such as climate change) affect everyday knowledge and practices in different sociocultural contexts. A qualitative research design based on interviews and focus groups was applied in France and in Germany. Results show that 1) causes and consequences of climate change remain unfamiliar in both countries because of identity stakes (changes in nature will affect our culture) even if 2) in Germany risks are represented with a higher proximity. 3) Climate change and ecological practices are anchored in different categories in each country: moral categories in Germany, linked to a global interpretation of climate change; political categories in France, associated with a local interpretation of climate change. Finally, ecological practices embody the very tension between nature and culture and are a way to link past relationships to nature and a possible future society.