Relationship Between Background of Youth and Their Awareness, Attitude and Perception Towards Climate Change

Abstract

Nowadays, climate change has been a topic of discussion for many people at various levels all over the world. With the increase in world temperature year by year, there are many reports of extreme weather, melting of the polar ice cap, and rising of the sea level that are affecting people in their daily lives. Since it is disrupting human life, efforts are being carried out by international bodies, governments, and various NGOs in mitigation and adaptation efforts of climate change impact by raising awareness on climate change issues. In Malaysia, such efforts are being carried out too, and many studies are conducted to analyse various aspects of climate change, including social science. In this study, youth are targeted as the respondents as they can play an important role in climate change mitigation, which makes analysing their level of awareness, perception, and attitude towards climate change needed. Therefore, using purposive sampling techniques, undergraduates at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) currently taking the WSU 101: Sustainable Issues, Challenges, and Prospects course are chosen as respondents. Using an online questionnaire, 234 out of 498 students participated in this study. In order to understand the intention and motivation of youth towards climate change, the Theory of Planned Behaviour is used, and three types of variables, which consist of independent variables (gender, age, education background, and knowledge), intervening variables (personal experience, self-interest, and intention), and dependent variables (awareness, perception, and behaviour), are used to analyse the relationship and factors. Using all the data collected, it was found that respondents in this study are aware of and have a good understanding of climate change. Moreover, it is also found that they are aware that climate change is affecting their lives, and there is a relationship between their demographic background, experiences, and behaviour or attitudes towards climate change. Since climate change impacts are affecting our livelihoods and youth, which represent almost half of Malaysia's current population, it can be an effective and efficient tool to promote climate change awareness for mitigation and adaptation programs. Thus, the findings of this study can be used as a baseline for climate change programs among youth, and this can be done by collecting responses from a larger youth population so that more comprehensive initiatives can be planned and implemented.