Climate change is a topic that has often been debated in Italy among different generations, especially in recent years due to the frequent climatic events occurred around the world. Nearly a month after the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day (22nd of April 2022), young teens showed an increasing concern toward the issue.
Last year, the newspaper “La Repubblica” shared a study carried out by the United Nations University (ONU) and Oxford University which showed that 86% of Italian and English young people were highly concerned about climate change.
Also, a European Union study found that young people blame political institutions responsible for global warming and over half of Italian teens believe that climate change issues need to be addressed primarily by economically advanced countries.
Thanks to young activists such as the environmentalist Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate, youth are making their voices felt on climate change issues. Fridays for Future (school strikes organized in 2018 by Greta Thunberg) is a global youth movement that has launched numerous school protests in Italy to protect the environment. Over 150 000 young people participated at the Friday for Future protest in Milan.
UNICEF Italia has promoted the youth participation on climate change effect by organizing events such as “q-HACK4.0: Climate Change and Youth Engagement” to encourage young people to propose ideas and strategies to address climate change.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Italy Country Manager Vito Latorr
Learn More Sources
https://www.ipsos.com/it-it/giovani-italiani-molto-preoccupati-cambiamento-climatico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWb_5weXRbU
https://www.unicef.it/media/cambiamoaria-giovani-al-lavoro-sul-cambiamento-climatico/