84% of young people in Spain believe that they will live worse than their parents due to climate change

06/10/2022 at 21:42

EST


The majority of those surveyed state that they are willing to assume “individual changes so that the structural changes go ahead”

The 84% of young people who have participated in a survey -whose sample has been 4,210 people between the ages of 16 and 30 residing in Spain- believes that it will live worse than its parents because of climate change, according to the report “The future is climate 2022”, presented this Thursday in the Congress of Deputies.

The report, the results of which have been broken down by several young climate activists and deputies from different parliamentary groups, reveals the opinions of Spanish youth regarding the climate crisis and its management, and also includes some specific proposals that young people consider should be accepted.

The survey reflects the commitment of young people to individual changessince the majority has stated that they are willing to assume “individual changes so that the structural changes go ahead,” summarized the activist Carmen Huidobro, a promoter at Climabar.

93.7% said they were satisfied with making longer journeys for their leisure trips using less polluting means of transport, and the majority also positioned themselves in favor of returning to the original Mediterranean diet, with a greater base of legumes and vegetables , and less or no meat.

In addition, three out of four people surveyed (77.5%) stated that would consume more low-carbon food “if the Government facilitate its consumption.

However, despite this desire for change, eco-anxiety is reflected in the little hope that young people have about the ability to achieve a desirable future with the current energy and food model, and they ask, among other things, for “economic decrease”, highlights Huidobro.

We live in disastrous material conditions,” The activist and sociologist Miriam Jiménez has also stressed, in conditions that, together with the climate policies in force, draw “a very negative collective imaginary”, she lamented.

45.4% of those surveyed predict that current climate policies will only make their lives worse because of their ineffectiveness in curbing global warming, the effects of which will be especially felt by people with low incomes (90.7% understand this).

Deputies from the Congressional Ecological Transition Commission participated in the presentation, such as the coordinator of Alianza Verde, Juantxo López de Uralde, who encouraged young people to participate in politics in a transversal manner and also promote public climate policies through activism that be more ambitious.

The survey data reflect in this sense that most young people want to get involved politically76.1% trust that their involvement could achieve “significant changes” in the fight for the climate.

96% of those surveyed judge that the most polluting companies should pay more taxes than those with less ecological impact, while 45.2% think that the United Nations climate summits (COP) “do not serve to alleviate the climate crisis and they always remain on paper”.

Along with López de Uralde, the deputies Mª Carmen Martínez (Cs), Eva Patricia Bueno (PSOE) and Diego Gago (PP), who have supported young people in their activism, have encouraged them to participate in politics and have called for “optimism” to combat eco-anxiety.

ttn-25