Eva Massey, 17, is a UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador. She lives in Melbourne and is currently in year 12.


There are LOADS of academic articles and documentaries about climate change, but what’s missing from these are the voices of young people. And trust me it is young people who need to be heard, because we’re the ones who will have to live with the effects of a climate you create.

I am going to put my hand up and say it: I am not just thinking about my children, or my children’s children, I’m thinking about me. I will have to live with an environment that is changing for the worse. 

  Since I was five I’ve been aware that the world I live in is changing, and that those who are polluting it now aren’t going to be here to experience the damage. Even in just my 17 years, the world has already gotten a whole lot worse – we’ve seen warming air and sea temperatures, leading to the polar ice caps melting, and the mass bleaching of coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

Over the last couple of months, I and the other seven UNICEF Australia Young Ambassadors met with and listened to over 1,500 young Australians across the country – from preschool through to high school and into young adulthood.  We then worked with YouGov Galaxy to conduct an online survey of a further 1,000 young people aged 14 to 17 years – those who will soon be of voting age.

From all this, one message was resoundingly clear: the majority of young people are concerned about climate change, and they want to see action from decision-makers.
 

• Seventy-three per cent of young Australians aged 14-17 years say climate change is affecting the world “a lot” now.
• An overwhelming 95 per cent are concerned about pollution of our land, sea and air – 59 per cent are “very concerned”.
• Fifty-nine per cent view climate change as a threat to their safety – ranking it above terrorism, drugs and alcohol and bullying. 
• Three quarters (75 per cent) say Australia should take action on climate change.