Students urge government to lead the way on climate crisis

THE responsibility for tackling climate and nature emergencies should fall on government and business, young people say – but they’re not holding their breath.

A two-week “flash poll” asked young people aged seven and up what they really think about the climate and nature emergencies ahead of the 2019 general election.

Flash polls are online or app-based surveys. By December 9 there had been more than 1,750 responses, from Inverness in the north to Cornwall in the south.

Most believe that government (46.9%) and industry (25.2%) have the biggest responsibility for tackling the climate and nature emergencies. But 62% felt businesses are not doing enough, and 71% that the UK government is not.

Only around half are hopeful that people in the UK can help find a solution to these emergencies, according to a new survey by Geographers for Life.

Just over half are also confident that the loss of species on Earth can be stopped.

The poll sought to learn how these emergencies make young people feel, how optimistic they are that the problems can be fixed, and who they believe holds the most responsibility for tackling the causes and impacts of climate and ecological change.

Geographers for Life is made up of researchers from the Universities of Plymouth, Leeds and Canterbury Christ Church, as well as schoolteachers, geographers and explorers.

Dr Caroline Clason, a Plymouth lecturer in physical geography, said: “Over the past year, thanks to the global climate protests, young people have begun to be listened to far more on the subject of climate change.

“It is vital they are heard, since they are inheriting this issue but have a key role to play in solving it now and in the future.

“On an individual level, there is appreciation that we can always do more, but the results clearly show where young people feel the main responsibility lies when it comes to tackling this issue.”

Paul Chatterton, professor of urban futures at the University of Leeds, said: “What our poll shows is the depth of concern, appetite for action and also the deep understanding of the issues at stake.

“The mandate from our young people is now clear: to overhaul our education system so we can make a rapid transition to a climate just UK in the next ten years. We must not let them down.”

Ben King, a teacher at Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Torbay, is also part of the group is and one of the first United Nations-accredited Climate Change Teachers.

He said: “Our children are right to identify that governments and big businesses hold significant power for top-down action on climate change.

“However, bottom-up action at the scale of individual schools has clear potential for helping people wake up to the climate crisis.

“Our students recognise the clear climate and ecological emergency their planet is facing.”