SVT alerts: Young people are abandoning the climate issue

Greta Thunberg made the so-called climate crisis the latest fashion, but now that craze has started to fade away and is being replaced by other issues, such as passion for the Palestinian territories and hatred toward Israel—which itself will eventually be replaced by yet another trend and whatever gets the most likes on social media.

In a research study from Örebro University, around 1,000 high school students are being followed over three years to investigate how young people are affected by climate change and how their feelings about the issue develop over time. Data from the first survey, involving 600 16-year-olds, has now been collected and analyzed.

73 percent state that they are largely indifferent to climate change, while 17 percent are considered “climate resilient”—this group is engaged against the alleged climate crisis even though they feel sorrow and anxiety at the same time. The remaining ten percent are very worried and feel bad, experiencing “climate anxiety.”

Between 2010 and the early 2020s, concern about the climate increased among young people. In 2018, Greta Thunberg and the forces around the Swedish activist launched their PR campaign with the so-called school strike for climate outside the parliament.

Surprised

73 percent is a figure that surprises Marlis Wullekord, environmental psychologist at Lund University and one of the researchers in the study.

– For now, we can only speculate, but one reason could be that we live in a time with many crises. Climate change is just one of several ongoing crises that young people have to deal with emotionally, Wullekord tells the public broadcaster.

She also believes another reason could be a sense of powerlessness in the face of “a real threat,” which leads to hopelessness. Giving young people hope is a very important task for schools, Wullekord believes.

– School and the adult world need to help young people put words to their feelings. That in itself can give a sense of control and make emotions easier to handle.