Young people in Ireland are willing to fly less and eat less meat, but they believe the government has a responsibility to bring about change, according to new research from the Institute for Economic and Social Research.
Most want non-essential domestic flights to be banned and car-free zones to be introduced in cities and city centers.
The study, “Youth Knowledge & Perceptions of Climate Mitigation” was based on a survey of 500 young people between the ages of 16 and 24.
It found that while young people are more supportive of climate action than adults in other age groups, they were about the same level of knowledge about which actions can have the biggest impact.
This meant that most had trouble identifying which behavior changes would have a high impact on climate change mitigation.
43% agreed that avoiding long-haul flights is a big impact change and only 34% said a vegan diet makes a big difference.
However, most of the young people surveyed said they wanted to take climate action.
55% said they would limit the number of flights in the future and 30% said they would avoid flying as much as possible.
Nearly half (48%) of current meat eaters said they plan to eat less in the short term, and nearly 30% plan to follow a plant-based diet in the long term.
Ninety percent of the group said they consider protecting the environment very important and most believe there are things they can do in everyday life to combat climate change. They feel a responsibility to do so, but they also say that the government is more capable and more responsible for taking action to combat climate change than individuals.
There were no urban-rural or class divides among participants with essentially the same levels of knowledge and support for climate action across all sociodemographic groups.
The authors found that the only behavior predicted by socioeconomic status was the likelihood of engaging in active travel, where youth from higher socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to do so.
They conclude that their study does not provide support “to the view of climate change as an issue reserved for the urban middle-class,” reports RTE.
According to RTE, the report advises: “Rather than focusing on how to strengthen youth climate attitudes and promote individual behaviour, perhaps more critical is to create opportunities for youth to act on their current motivations”.
It says that policymakers “could continuously engage with young communities to incorporate their views in the decisions that will affect more of their lives”, reports RTE.
Professor Pete Lunn, head of ESRI’s Behavioral Research Unit, said the research shows that young people are willing to advocate “quite radical policies that would clearly affect their future lives” to address the climate crisis.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Professor Young said the topic of climate action is “really very complex” and can be difficult for people to deal with.
He shows that this political issue cannot be left to individual choice, he added.
“It’s going to have to be done through a combination of traditional measures and incentives, like taxes and regulations,” he said, reports RTE.
Ylva Andersson, lead author of the report, said overall the findings show that young people in Ireland are concerned about climate change and are highly motivated to act.
Dr. Eimear Cotter, director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Evaluation, said she was encouraged by the survey.
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