89% of UAE kids are highly aware of climate change
Asked who inspires them most to want to help fight global warming, 60 per cent of kids mentioned ‘mum’ as their biggest hero
Climate change is a hot-buton issue for many people, from leaders to scientists and environmentalists. The effects are there for all to see. Last year saw one of the hotest spells on record. About 35 per cent of heat deaths can be traced to climate change. Scientists affirm that more people die from other extreme weather conditions amplified by global warming such as storms, flooding and drought – and the heat death numbers will grow rapidly with rising temperatures. Even the ice belt has been affected. A study in the science journal Nature reveals ice mass loss from about 220,000 glaciers around the world, a major source of rising sea levels.
However, what is noteworthy is that children are increasingly concerned about the terrible impact of climate change. Cartoon Network published results of a new Emea-wide study analysing 6-12-year-olds’ views and behaviour around climate change. The findings make clear that the health of the planet is a top priority for kids, and that they want to be part of the solution to one of the biggest challenges of our time.
The study was conducted in 13 countries across EMEA (the UAE, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, UK, South Africa, Romania, Turkey and the Czech Republic). It revealed that 89 per cent of kids in the UAE have high awareness of climate change while 82 per cent of them recognise its importance, ranking climate change among the top three most important topics.
Vanessa Brookman, Head of Kids, WarnerMedia EMEA, said: “The findings reinforce what we had already taken from conversations with our young fans – kids care immensely about the planet and are eager to get involved. This fed directly into creation and launch of Cartoon Network Climate Champions – a bespoke climate change awareness initiative which invites kids across EMEA to take on daily challenges that help the environment. Although the campaign has only been live since June 1, 350,996 challenges have already been completed, which is testament to the kids’ desire to take action. We are pleased to empower our young audiences in this way and are impressed with how they are collectively making a difference.”
The survey also found that 91 per cent of EMEA kids are concerned about climate change, citing worry, fear and sadness as their most common feelings. Meanwhile, 78 per cent of EMEA kids polled want to learn more about climate change. In addition, 83 per cent want to do more to help fight climate change with 66 per cent proactively looking for opportunities to get involved.
The study was undertaken as part of Cartoon Network’s multi-territory, multi-language climate change awareness campaign Climate Champions, which was launched across EMEA on June 1. The initiative sets out to inspire kids to undertake small daily challenges that can make a world of a difference to the health of our planet and has been developed in partnership with WWF.
Asked who inspires them most to want to help fight global warming, 60 per cent of kids mentioned “mum” as their biggest hero who can support them in combating climate change. “Dad” and “teachers” were also referenced as climate change role models.
Meanwhile, 65% of EMEA kids would like Cartoon Network to help them fight climate change.
Warnermedia commissioned the online nationally representative survey among 4,124 kids aged 6-12 in 13 countries across the EMEA region, conducted by Quantilope, from May 28 till June 11 2021.
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