74% of youth in UAE say climate change affects their lives: EAD survey

The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) announced the results of the Youth Survey on Climate Change that was conducted during Q4 2022. The survey, presented during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, had a total of 4,210 respondents, including employees and students, aged 15-29, and residing in various emirates, 65 per cent of whom were females and 71 per cent are based in Abu Dhabi.

Shamma Bint Suhail Bin Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Climate Pioneer for Youth at COP28, said, "The UAE's investment in youth to enhance its efforts and support its strategic plans on climate change issues will give it double impetus to find direct practical solutions that will reduce environmental concerns and challenges in the short term. As 74% of the youth participating in the survey considered that climate change affects their lives, it will inevitably lead to the acceleration of work on strategies that rely on them to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

EAD’s Youth Survey on Climate Change captured the voices of young people on the most critical environmental issues and the effects of climate change. The survey also evaluated youths’ awareness and engagement on key environmental issues, identified their views on environmental preservation techniques and sustainability concepts, and assessed their level of ecological awareness.

The survey also measured the extent to which youths' behaviour had changed as a result of the newly implemented single-use plastic bags policy and explored youths’ viewpoints on environmental priorities and perceived solutions to climate change.

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The survey was accessible on EAD’s various social media platforms to ensure that it reaches the largest number of youth, including the Sustainable Schools Initiative Network, of 153 schools, and the Sustainable Campus Initiative that includes 24 universities with more than 500 000 students, in addition to EAD’s network of stakeholders and its programmatic partners.

Shamma Bint Suhail Bin Faris Al Mazrouei added, "Youth have always been a main focus in the national strategies of the UAE in all fields, therefore they play an important role in bringing about tangible development through their direct support. They are a major player in national and international programmes and initiatives to confront climate change and its effects on their daily lives, and are important for instigating change in their environmental behaviour with regard to sustainability.”

She pointed out that it is necessary for all youth bodies and institutions in the UAE to work on adopting initiatives aimed at raising youth awareness and enhancing their knowledge of the risks resulting from climate change, and the importance of concerted efforts to confront environmental challenges.

She added that the results of the Climate Change Survey launched by EAD in the last quarter of 2022, targeting adolescents and youth, confirm the importance of this category in drawing up future environmental policies within the framework of finding practical and sustainable solutions to the issue of climate change.

She emphasised, "The results of the survey will encourage youth bodies and institutions in the UAE to work alongside decision-makers at the COP28, which the UAE is hosting this year which is important for achieving environmental sustainability and reducing the effects of climate change that threatens the future of the planet.”

Dr. Shaikha Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General of EAD, said, "We were pleased to see a wide response from young people and their eagerness to participate in the survey. Youth are an influential group in the global environmental movements and their voices matter to us as a regulator. It is clear that our youth are concerned and actively engaged in environmental issues and tend to suggest solutions. Announcing the results of this survey during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week puts them on a high visibility platform and we look forward to sharing the survey findings with the leadership of the UAE and our stakeholders.”

She added, "We will incorporate all survey findings in our programmes and initiatives, especially since about 67 per cent of the youth who participated in the survey stated that our programmes help spread awareness among young people about climate change. 53 per cent of the respondents expressed their hopes that COP28 will accelerate work on strategies to mitigate climate change, so we look forward to playing an active role in amplifying their voices ahead of and during COP28.”

WAM