The floods in Northern Europe and wildfires in Southern Europe dominated the news in recent weeks. At the beginning of August, the IPCC, the United Nations climate panel, published a new report. It states that the climate is changing at an unprecedented rate as a result of human activity. What effect does this news have on young people? How do they view their future?
Young people have serious concerns about the future of our planet. Earlier studies had already shown that almost 70 percent of those under 18 see climate change as a worrying development. They are more concerned than their parents and grandparents. Shortly before the report was published, young people united in the Young Climate Movement demanded, in a letter to the House of Representatives, that politicians take more action to achieve the targets for combating climate change.
“The news about the floods and wildfires, and the connection scientists make with climate change, is making the problem increasingly concrete for children and young people,” says Tom van Yperen, an expert at the Netherlands Youth Institute. “Many of them experience this as a serious threat. It is important for adults to be aware of this and make an effort to offer young people a perspective on a safe living environment.”