Listening to Young People about Climate Change

More young people than ever from around the world are actively raising the need for urgent climate action, whether through climate strikes, or participating in the Chile/Madrid meetings of the UNFCCC Conference of  Parties, or local actions.  Children and young people are also bringing cases in courts and tribunals and the UN human rights system to pursue their arguments for much greater climate action. Many young people in universities across disciplines are also engaged in climate research and thinking about possible responses. This is not a concern of a few activists. The Mission Australia Youth Survey for 2019 released in December shows the environment has soared from eighth place in 2018 to second place in 2019 in the list of the issues young people say are the most important issues in Australia – more than tripling in significance since last year.Since 2018, the proportion of those from Tasmania reporting the environment as a key national issue has jumped from 15.3% to 40.4%. Nine out of ten young people also said they felt that they didn’t have a voice in public affairs https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/what-we-do/research-impact-policy-advocacy/youth-survey.

We should all be listening to young people. More than this, we should be working with them to come up with ideas and actions to deal with climate change. They must also be part of shaping the discussion about climate justice and a just transition in a decarbonising world. We owe it to them to engage them as the concerned and thoughtful agents that they are, as well as the ones whose futures are most at risk. 

Jan Linehan & Peter Lawrence, Co-convenors, Climate Justice Network