By Ulrika Modéer and Veronica Winja Otieno, Photo: Shutterstock, United Nations Development Programme, August 12, 2022
Today, our world is 1.1°C warmer than it was in the pre-industrial era, and failure to act urgently could possibly result in increases of 1.5°C-2°C between 2026 and 2042. Climate change poses a serious risk to the fundamental rights of people of every age. Extreme weather such as droughts, floods and heatwaves, and their effects of food and water insecurity, livelihood losses, famines, and wildfires exacerbate inequalities and disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, among them young people and children.
UNDP’s Peoples’ Climate Vote,the largest ever survey of public opinion on climate change, revealed that nearly 70 percent of under 18s are most likely to believe climate change is a global emergency. Other studies show that ‘eco-anxiety’ is increasing, particularly amongst the young. A global study of 10,000 youth from 10 countries in 2021 found that over 50 percent of young people felt sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty about climate change, while 45 percent said their feelings negatively affected their daily lives. Countries expressing more worry tended to be poorer, such as those in the south, or those in the north that had been directly affected by climate change.
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