In Wales there is still a massive amount of young people disengaged with politics. How are climate groups addressing this during a climate crisis?
Following the presentation of the Welsh Budget Outlook by the Wales Fiscal Analysis team at Cardiff Bay’s Pierhead Building on a bitter early December morning, the outlook was bleak but not unexpected. Among public anxiety surrounding the cost-of-living crisis, there is equal anxiety surrounding the Welsh government’s financial ability to commit to net zero goals.
Whereas as recently as 2021 a local authority could borrow at an interest rate of one percent from the Public Works Loan Board, that interest rate is now running considerably higher. Cian Siôn of the WFA concluded: “That is going to make it more challenging to fund capital expenditure projects you’re going to have to deliver in order to meet net zero goals in the next decades.”
Called to action
On the surface, it could be argued that Wales is a progressive nation when it comes to climate policy. The devolved government, the Senedd, has 70% of its seats occupied by parties dedicated to radical reform of Welsh economy and society, and commitments to addressing the climate crisis.
Despite these commitments to battling climate change, according to the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, 26 analysed risks from climate change in Wales, including more frequent flooding and coastal erosion, have increased in terms of urgency since previous reports.
From these findings, it’s obvious that governments and organisations need to be held to account continuously on their commitment to climate action. But Local Government and Senedd elections in Wales infamously produce consistent low turnouts, particularly among younger demographics. Approximately only 1 in 5 (12,338) newly enfranchised 16-17 year olds registered to vote ahead of the May 2022 local elections. These figures beg the question as to how much the Welsh Government is being held to account for what must be done regarding the climate crisis by the generations it will most affect.
Inspiring change
The climate crisis is something the majority of the Welsh population is engaged with. In a survey by the NHS and Bangor University, 82% of respondents said they were fairly or very concerned about the effects of climate change.
Following Wales Climate Week 2022 this November, an annual group of events building on the Conference of the Parties (COP) global climate change summit, groups like ClimateCymru and Size of Wales are working to directly engage people with these issues, and highlight how they can make change and impact decision making.
Barbara Davis-Quy, deputy director of climate change charity Size of Wales, highlighted the desire of the Welsh population to commit to climate responsibility: “I think we’re quite a globally responsible and really proud nation […] based on principles of solidarity.
“[Young people] want to protect the Amazon, they want to protect the people that live in the Amazon, they want to protect the animals that live there and thrive.”
The charity works to educate people on climate change, and also illustrate what people can do to help at different levels. “We engage with young people because we see them as the future generation.” Davies-Quy stated. The charity’s education work has been done in over 200 primary and secondary schools across the country, and has an emphasis on how: “everyone has a role, no matter how small they are. Everyone can bring about change.”
Everyone has a role, no matter how small they are. Everyone can bring about change
The charity also runs a “mock COP”, where young people represent nations and engage in climate negotiations similar to the official COP event. Davies-Quy explained how these events help young people understand how international decision making works, and engage them within this world by sharing knowledge. Some of the young people who have been involved in these mock COP events have gone on to be part of the Youth Climate Ambassadors, a group of 12 young people from across Wales passionate about fighting for climate justice.
Through engaging young people into climate change issues, Size of Wales has been able to influence policy makers. Young people were encouraged to write a letter to the First Minister Mark Drakeford to call for Wales to become a deforestation free nation. Through connecting climate activists in Wales to indigenous voices in areas Size of Wales aims to protect, the charity also inspired Welsh Climate Change Minister Julie James MS to publicly commit to tackle Wales’ overseas deforestation footprint.
Disengaged nation?
Voting is by no means the only way to influence politics. However, it is arguably the easiest, and getting young people voting and engaged with politics is a sure way of preventing low turnouts and political disengagement in Wales becoming a long term problem.
One reason for political disengagement could be the lack of curriculum-based political education in mainstream schools across Wales. A damning Estyn response in the Curriculum for Wales 2022 analysis stated that the current version of the curriculum: “provides very little explicit reference to or guidance for […] political awareness and understanding to help them become ‘informed citizens’.” In 2018, the Electoral Reform Society Cymru asked 200 young people in 13 schools throughout Wales what they wanted to learn as part of a political education curriculum. The overwhelming response in every school was that they all wanted to learn about politics, to be taught basic life skills and they wanted to see more of their politicians.
The Youth Climate Ambassadors now chair the Cross-Party Group on Climate, Nature and Wellbeing at the Senedd, ensuring the Welsh Government can keep on track to net zero targets in future. The group gives young people a platform so they can directly influence decision makers. Davies-Quy believes there could be greater civic awareness about rights and democracy across many countries. She emphasised: “Having spaces like the citizens assemblies are really good models of taking that decision making down to community level.”
