Young people under 18 see climate change as a more significant threat than adults and want stricter measures. However, based on a major study, they are significantly more optimistic about measures to combat climate change, says the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Together with Oxford University, the UNDP surveyed nearly 700,000 residents of the world’s 20 largest economies, including more than 300,000 young people.
In most G20 countries, the difference of opinion between adults and young people is significant. Young people are thus sending a clear signal to world leaders that they must take more action to combat climate change, the UNDP says.
The most popular climate measures among young people are protecting forests (59 percent), using wind and solar energy (57 percent) and climate-friendly agriculture (57 percent). Among adults, these measures score 3 to 4 percentage points worse. Also, young people expect a lot from affordable insurance against the consequences of extreme weather and from the use of electric cars and bicycles. The difference here is 5 percentage points.
At the end of this month, the COP26 climate summit will start in Glasgow, Scotland. THE UNDP SAID THAT the G20 countries account for 80 percent of the global economy and 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.