Children and Youth - Drivers of sustainable behaviour
The pre-COP side event ‘Behavioural Science shark tank: Can children and youth really create impact in addressing the climate crisis?’ organized by FAO in partnership with the Youth and the United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA), the World Association of the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (YOUNGO) and the World Food Forum (WFF), took place on 30 September 2021.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity and our planet, for which societies and especially individuals should be hold accountable for. It has increased levels of uncertainty about our future. As highlighted by Zitouni Ould-Dada, FAO OCB deputy director, ‘75% of young people think the future is frightening and 45% say climate concern negatively impacts their daily life’.
But young people are not only victims of climate change. They are also valuable contributors to climate action. 50% of the world’s population is currently under 30, and this new generation has an increasingly strong social and environmental awareness, the energy and knowledge to lead our societies towards a low carbon and climate-resilient future.
Our achievements up to date are not nearly enough to stop 'catastrophic' global warming, according to the recent UN report. We all know about the importance of educating people about climate change. But after decades of educational programmes running, the progress made is a ‘drop in the ocean’ compared with what must be achieved. We know more about climate change than ever before, but continue to behave in unsustainable ways, often quite irrationally. Clearly, we need to improve our approach and increase our impact.
The event was structured like the TV “shark tank” show making it fun, interactive, challenging but most of all informative. During the event, three young activists have pitched their actions and initiatives to the panel of behavioural science experts who provided feedback and suggestions on how to improve the impacts using the wealth of behavioural science.
‘Every single sustainability challenge that we are facing today has at least one thing in common: to solve them, someone somewhere has to start behaving differently. But behaviour change is not nearly as simple as it might appear even if we want to change. As humans, we are often stubborn, stuck, self-interested and resistant to change. And this is where behavioural science can help. Even for the big, complex, multilayered problems like climate change’, informed Michaela Barnett, a behavioral scientist and PhD fellow at the University of Virginia. ‘Behavioural science can help us understand the causes of our behaviour, what levers we can pull and push to change it and foresee the barriers that we encounter along the way’.
Philipe Bujold, a behavioural scientist at Rare's Center for Behavior & the Environment, pointed out that conventional efforts to change behavior, such as material incentives, laws, policies and information, have their limitations and don’t bring sufficient results in changing human behaviours. These levers target our rational thinking that is not the one dragging the majority of our decisions. Philipe emphasized that using behavioural science should not replace these tactics. Rather it’s about understanding how people are making their choices, leveraging social norms, choice architecture and emotional appeals, and being creative in using them to develop solutions.
The first project was pitched by Ishita Lal Yadav, a deeply passionate youth advocate for climate equity and a social-justice activist. Ishita pitched the case ‘Climate Action Buddies in India’, advocating to create opportunities for youth such as paid internships, entry-level positions, youth entry-level mobility schemes in all climate policy and educational programs to ensure youth more actively engage in climate action mechanisms and empower them with relevant technical skills.
A second pitcher was Germaine Umuraza, a gender and environmental activist and the Advocacy Manager in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Germaine pitched the WAGGGS project ‘Girl Led Action on Climate Change Programme in Africa’ - an exciting new programme in Benin, Lesotho and Tanzania, that educates girls and young women on climate-related issues and encourages them to take leadership roles in climate change response.
The last young pitcher was Lisanne Van Oosterhoud, a 24 years old woman from the Netherlands, a World Food Forum Champion and a project manager in Agriculture, Water and Food within the organization FME. Lisanne pitched her city educational project called ‘Green Teams’, which aims to create youth ambassadors of change towards a sustainable city and society, but also to empower them to make more sustainable choices and thus contribute to a healthier future.
The event has shown that using behavioural science insights can revolutionize the impact of our climate actions, and youth are at the front and core of this movement. All the pitches aroused a lot of discussions and received valuable suggestions from the behavioural ‘sharks’. Over 140 participants who joined the event also had a chance to have their say on which projects they think should be funded and upscaled in the future. And undoubtedly, everyone brought along their own important messages from the event, that hopefully will get shared widely across the countries and communities.
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