Teens and young people in their 20s underestimate how worried older people are about climate change.

If they are given accurate information on how worried those aged over 40 are, they are more likely to think they will take climate action.

The ESRI research shows three-in-four estimated older people’s concern to be lower than seniors reported themselves.

“Many speeches that try to motivate climate activism tend to highlight generational differences,” ESRI Senior Research Officer Dr Shane Timmons said. 

“These differences are undeniable; we know older generations have contributed more to climate change and younger generations are more exposed to it. 

“But we think that these narratives may be unhelpful for young people.

“We see in our data that they make them more worried about climate change but it doesn’t motivate them to act on it.” 

A windfarm above the village of Ardara, County Donegal. 

Dr Timmons said it is helpful for young people to inform themselves of the reality. 

“We presented with the data that’s collected from multiple studies showing how worried older generations are, this belief gets corrected and they then start to believe that other people are going to play their part mitigating climate change,” he said. 

Last year was Ireland’s hottest on record.

Main image: A grandmother and granddaughter walking in a park. Image: chrisstockphoto / Alamy