Climate Change - Who Cares? The Topic of the Century through the eyes of tomorrow's leaders from over 120 countries.
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (December 2, 2009) Climate change is the greatest threat of all, and the problem is manmade. That is the opinion of “tomorrow’s leaders”, more than 3,000 university students and young professionals in 122 countries. However, while almost all of them are very concerned about climate change, not so many feel engaged in climate change issues.
Next week today’s leaders will meet in Copenhagen to determine how to deal with future climate change challenges. Ultimately their success depends on the leaders of tomorrow. Young people’s views on climate change are key to understanding and shaping the future. Kairos Future, the international futures research and strategy development firm, and AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-run organization, surveyed global youth in November 2009 to find out what tomorrow’s leaders really think.
Everyone should get more involved
– Young people are the leaders of today who will deliver on the promise of tomorrow. Let’s Act NOW!, commented Aman Jain, President of AIESEC.
Three out of four respondents feel that people and organizations who should do something about climate change are not doing enough. Nine out of ten respondents think that companies should take greater responsibility to limit climate change. They also think that everyone needs to contribute to solving the issue, but only 20% describe themselves as very engaged in climate change issues. There is no equal sign between attitudes and behavior.
– There is a tendency towards “Somebodyelseism”, someone else is expected to take action. Evidently fears and convictions do not automatically transform into action, says Mats Lindgren, CEO and founder of Kairos Future, and a former environmental researcher. They believe that politics and business have the power to act, and that they are obliged to do that.
More than six out of ten believe that the solution to climate change is political rather than technological.
Global north should deal with problems at home first
The notion of “climate debt” is often discussed in relation to climate change, whereby the Global North is expected to repay their ecological debt to the Global South, subsequent to a long history of over-exploitation and excessive consumption. It can be argued that the greatest marginal effect is achieved by investing in developing nations, where relatively small changes can have comparatively large impact on the environment. However, the majority of survey respondents does not share that view.
– The young people in our survey lean heavily towards the opposite perspective, that r ich countries should deal with environmental problems in their own countries before focusing on environmental problems in the developing world, says Anna Kiefer, Project manager of the climate change survey and Director of Kairos Future International. There are not any big differences in viewpoint between young in the Global North and the Global South in this regard.
Friends determine engagement in climate change
So what would make tomorrow’s leaders globally engage more in climate change? Well, lack of money, time and information are not the main obstacles to involvement in climate change issues.
– Tomorrow’s leaders would be more engaged if people around them got involved, says Anna Kiefer. It seems to be very important what your friends do and who sets an example.
In many countries, the absence of necessary infrastructure to support a climate smart living leaves people without options. It is not up to them if they choose public transportation or not, because it simply does not exist. Yet, the majority of actions taken even in the western world constitute discussions and intellectual involvement.
The recipe for saving the planet is a social act more than anything. Trust in science to save the world is vanishing, climate and seasons are more important issues than ever and opinions change with the change of seasons; people adapt to politicians and people around them. The Age of Reason is abandoned and we find ourselves in the Age of Season.
Further revelations…
Further analysis and statistics will be revealed at a youth event at COP15 on the afternoon of December 11th hosted by PlanetCall (www.planetcall.org).
About the survey
Kairos Future, the international research and consulting firm dealing with futures research and strategy development, together with AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-run organization, have surveyed young people around the world about their views on climate change. Data was collected in the month of November 2009.
The questionnaire was distributed in English via e-mail and AIESEC web pages to AIESEC members globally. We have received 3,119 replies (48% women, 52% men) from 122 countries. Most of the respondents in the survey are students (75%) in the fields of economy, commerce, social sciences and technology. 83% of them were born in 1985 or later (most of them around 1988), 17% were born in 1984 or earlier. A majority of them are planning on becoming managers in the future (56% “yes definitely”, 32% “maybe”).
Further information
For further information or to obtain a free report with survey results, please contact:
Anna Kiefer, Project Manager of the Climate Change survey and Director Kairos Future International
E-mail: anna.kiefer@kairosfuture.com
Tel: +46 70 547 25 02
www.kairosfuture.com
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are you able to direct me to a site where i can find out more on climate change politics and policy in Italy. I thank you in advance.