Climate Change Concerns of Youth in Cambodia: The Effects of Climate Change Communication and Collective Action

Abstract

Youth's climate change awareness is rising, but so are their concerns about the future, with climate anxiety
being common in young adults and adolescents. Engaging adolescents in climate action is considered one
strategy to mitigate these concerns but for them to become active they need to be aware of the issue.
This research aims to answer if an increase in knowledge affects the climate change concerns the youth
have and if participation in collective action helps in dealing with these concerns. It took place in a project
by barnfonden and ChildFund Cambodia in Cambodia. An explanatory mixed methods approach was used
by conducting a quantitative pre/post survey followed by one focus group discussion. The results showed
a significant increase in the knowledge and belief in action but no significant increase in concerns and
perceived personal affectedness due to the training. This could be due to various other factors influencing
concern next to knowledge which led to an already high concern level in the first survey round. The
increase in the belief that action can help deal with emotions and combat climate change indicates it to
be a useful coping tool. The findings of this study show the complexity of climate change concerns and
accentuate the importance of well-thought-through training when talking about climate change.

Popular Abstract

This thesis studied whether learning about climate change affects how concerned youth are about the topic and how their beliefs in action against climate change are influenced by this knowledge. The results showed that knowledge about the topic and their belief in action increased due to the training but that the youth’s concern and perceived affectedness did not significantly rise. This could be due to other factors that influence concern levels and that could have led to the already high concern level before the training. However, the youth said they only engaged with the topic because of this project. This shows that knowledge does influence concerns to some extent and that it is important to have well-thought-through and holistic training on climate change that focuses on action and creating hope.
Climate change is an increasingly important topic and one reason why youth are concerned for their future. Engaging them in climate action is considered to help them deal with these worries. To become active against climate change, they need to learn about the impacts of climate change first. This is why this thesis looked at how learning about climate change affects concern and belief in collective action helping them to deal with these feelings. The research took place in Cambodia in a project by barnfonden and ChildFund Cambodia.
A survey before and after the training as well as one focus group discussion was used to look at the youth’s concerns, perceived affectedness, knowledge and their belief in action. As expected, the knowledge of the youth increased due to the training as did their belief that being active can be a good coping method. However, their concerns and perceived affectedness did not increase significantly. This could be because of factors such as values and worldview or even their age and gender influencing their concern level before the training. A slight increase in concern was seen due to the training and because of that, knowledge might still play a small role in creating concerns. Likewise, the youth perceived to be affected by climate change already before the training which was seen by 47% of them saying that Cambodia is already feeling the effects of climate change. This is probably the reason why they already felt affected before the training, and their perceived affectedness did not increase during. The youth also more strongly agreed that collective action can help them deal with their emotions after the training. Being active in combating climate change can help with dealing with concerns. However, since climate change cannot be solved so easily it is important to not only focus on solving the problem but also to talk about feelings regarding the topic.
The findings of this study show the complexity of climate change concerns and accentuate the importance of well-thought-through training when talking about climate change. The applicability is limited to similar contexts and projects but can be used as background information when drafting climate change training. More research and comparative studies are needed especially in similar geographical contexts.

• author: Hammer, Sonja
• supervisor: Misse Wester
• organization: Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
• course: VBRM15 20241
• year: 2024
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Social Sciences
• keywords: Climate change, climate change concerns, risk perception, climate change communication, collective action, knowledge, youth, empowerment, Cambodia
• language: English
• id: 9159000
• date added to LUP: 2024-06-05 16:42:32
• date last changed: 2024-06-05 16:42:32