Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Role of Media and Communications in Actioning Climate Change: Discussion
Dr. Pete Lunn:
According to our measure, 70% of the adult population is worried about climate change. We get more than 90% of young people with a similar measure. What young people think is that they cannot decide either which actions are going to be effective or not. They kind of know that, because when we give them an opportunity to say who is really responsible for driving this between individuals, companies, the Government or whatever, they overwhelmingly say the Government. They said in the report we published this morning that they want to see more radical action. They want to see higher taxes, bans and car-free zones in cities and towns. They want to see more radical Government action. I am not here to tell the committee whether that is right or wrong but I am here to tell members that is what our young people want. They know they cannot as individuals tackle this problem in a meaningful sense. When we test that, we can see that because they really do not know how to go about it. It needs leadership. It needs rules and changes. What they want to see is more radical policy, which is what the report shows today. That is 16 to 24-year-olds anyway.