Habbo and Greenpeace survey reveals teens more concerned about greenhouse gases than drugs, violence or war
49,243 teens polled on their views towards environmental issues ahead of the UN Climate Change
Conference in Bali from 3 to 14 December
Helsinki, Finland, 6 December 2007 - A new survey of nearly 50,000 teenagers from
around the world today reveals that 74 per cent of teens believe that global warming is a serious
problem and are more concerned about it than any other issue including drugs, violence or war. The
results are being released as governments meet in Bali, Indonesia, for one of the most important UN
conferences ever held on climate change.
The research conducted jointly by Habbo, the world’s largest virtual world for teens, and
Greenpeace International examined the attitudes and behaviour of the global teen population towards
environmental issues and gave teens a chance to speak out on the most pressing problem facing the
world.
Governments come under scrutiny in the survey: teenagers believe that governments are lagging
behind them in their level of concern over climate change. Whereas the teens surveyed regard
climate change as more important than terrorism (56 per cent versus 46 per cent, respectively) they
think that governments consider climate change a lower priority. 33 per cent think
governments are ‘very concerned’ about climate change compared to 42 per cent who see governments
being ‘very concerned’ about terrorism.
North America has come under the most fire, with 39 per cent of teens citing the continent as
being responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases, followed by Europe (24 per cent) and Asia
(19 per cent). Despite teens in every country pointing fingers at North America for the crisis
(except in Asia where they blame themselves), a quarter of North American teens are still not sure
if global warming is even a problem.
“The response from the teens to this survey conducted in Habbo is phenomenal and really
highlights the concern felt around the world,” explains Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake. “Giving
teens a voice on this matter is essential and we need to find practical ways to work together and
engage our youth to help combat this problem.”
Although 64 per cent of teens believe it’s still possible to stop global warming, nearly 40
per cent don’t actually know what’s causing it or how to prevent it. One thing is clear though:
teens do not regard this as a future problem; two thirds of those polled believe that global
warming will affect their lives in a negative way.
“Today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s decision makers. They are ‘Generation C’ – the generation
that has to beat climate change,” said Gerd Leipold, Greenpeace International Executive Director. “
It will be up to them to create a revolution in non-polluting, renewable energy to prevent global
warming from affecting the lives of billions of people and threatening the survival of countless
species of animals and plants.”
Scientists of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that emissions of
greenhouse gases need to be halved globally by the middle of this century to avoid severe impacts
such as water shortages, floods and the spread of diseases.
The 49,243 teens participating in the November 2007 Habbo survey came from 18 countries.
Those completing the survey were given the option of finding out more about climate change at the ‘
Habbos against climate change’ campaign group page. 16,000 Habbos registered as the supporters of
the group.