Half of Young People Cannot Identify Correct Definition of Climate Change, Shows Poll

A poll conducted by analytics company Gallup and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that only half of all young people can correctly identify the definition of climate change. Although most of the youth surveyed have heard of Climate change, this does not translate to a concrete understanding of the concept. These findings show the importance of investing resources in youth environmental education. This need is especially relevant in the face of the ongoing COP28.

The poll surveyed youth from 55 different countries. The age of the participants ranged from 15 to 24 years in age. Young people were asked to pick the correct definition of Climate change from two possible answers. The correct answer was pulled from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). These two possible answers respondents could choose from were: 1.) “seasonal changes in weather that occur every year” and 2.) “more extreme weather events and a rise in average world temperatures resulting from human activity”.

Although 85 percent of the youth surveyed had heard of Climate change, only around 50 percent were able to choose the correct definition. Young people from low to middle-income countries were less likely to be able to select the correct definition despite facing disproportionate impacts from Climate change. Only 19 percent of youth from Pakistan responded accurately. Other countries with low levels of accurate responses were Sierra Leone (26 percent) and Bangladesh (37 percent). The Children’s Climate Change Index, published in 2021, identifies youth in all three countries as being at high risk due to Climate change.

Climate change will disproportionately impact young people around the world. This makes it crucial that future decisions regarding Climate change hold children’s and youth’s best interests in mind when discussing Climate change responses. UNICEF is advocating for representatives at COP28 to purposefully make decisions that Support climate education and protect children from the ongoing and future impacts of Climate change.

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