92pct of Malaysian youths recognise climate change as crisis

 

Some 92 percent of Malaysian youths who took part in the National Youth Climate Change (NYCC) survey think that climate change is a crisis that needs to be urgently addressed.

The survey results, which were released in the report "Change for Climate", also found that nine in 10 youths in Malaysia have experienced environmental and climate-related effects in the last three years.

"Instead of watching sea levels rise, youths should rise up, lead the movement, and stir the waves of change for a better tomorrow. Humans are the root of the problem, but we can also be the solution for change," said Toh Zhee Qi, a law student at the University of Malaya.

The NYCC survey polled 1,393 young people in Malaysia. The report was prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), with support from local NGO EcoKnights.

Among the problems highlighted by the youth was their feeling that leading a climate-friendly lifestyle is expensive. They also feel that individual actions do not make much difference, leading to feelings of despair over the magnitude of the environmental problem.

The survey results formed the basis of recommendations highlighted in the report, which are to:

• Facilitate youth-led climate policies through regular consultations and meaningful participation in climate policy-making processes;
• Make climate action more accessible and inclusive by moving the conversation beyond urban centres to encourage youth from rural and lower-income families to participate; and
  
• Offer platforms and support as well as recognise indigenous youth activists, community groups and civil society organisations who are leading climate action initiatives.

The report is being released to mark the occasion of World Children’s Day tomorrow (Nov 20).

“The way we engage young people today on critical issues like the climate will determine the prospects for our planet and for sustainable development,” said Niloy Banerjee, UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

“Youths bring with them incredible drive and commitment to change things for the better. We must utilise young people’s potential as powerful agents of change, involve and empower them in the development of policies and support their participation in climate action at all levels,” added Banerjee.

“Young people have been telling us that they are concerned about the environment. This World Children’s Day, we must commit to listen and to include them in the decisions that shape our shared future.

"This conversation must go beyond the urban centres and platform youth from rural and lower-income areas who are already leading on climate action initiatives,” said Rashed Mustafa Sarwar, Unicef's representative in Malaysia.

Earlier this week, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Societies secretary-general Jagan Chapagain told a virtual press conference that while Covid-19 poses a very serious threat currently, climate change is likely to have a greater impact in the medium and long-term.

"Covid-19 is a very, very serious crisis the world is facing currently, but the IFRC expects that climate change will have a more significant medium and long-term impact on human life and on Earth," he said.

Chapagain added that the world had been hit by more than 100 disasters — many of them climate-related — since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 pandemic in March.

And while it looked increasingly likely that one or several vaccines would soon become available against Covid-19, Chapagain stressed that “unfortunately, there is no vaccine for climate change and it will require a much more sustained action and investment to really protect human life on this Earth”.

To launch the Change for Climate report with the UNDP-Unicef NYCC survey, a Youth Dialogue on Climate Change moderated by Toh will take place tomorrow (Nov 20) at 8pm online.

To register for the webinar, go to: https://tinyurl.com/youthtalksclimatechange

- Mkini