Why young people are stepping back from the climate conversation

Young people are not disengaging from public dialogue out of indifference, but because they feel politically invisible.

That is the central finding of new research by the Cypriot NGO AKTI Project and Research Centre, carried out together with the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and the environmental organisation Nature Trust FEE Malta, under the European project RESIsles.

Using climate change as a lens through which to examine democratic participation, the project engaged more than 3,500 young people across Cyprus, Malta and Crete.

From this wider outreach, 381 participated in targeted quantitative and qualitative research activities, through local events, co-creation cafés and workshops.

“Today’s young people are more aware of the climate crisis than any previous generation. They grew up with heatwaves, floods, live broadcasts of wildfires, images of melting ice, and a constant sense that the future is less secure than promised,” said AKTI in a statement.

“Yet,” it continues, “as the crisis becomes increasingly urgent, young people continue to withdraw from democratic dialogue.”

By examining the reasons behind this withdrawal, particularly in discussions around climate change, AKTI’s research points beyond individual apathy and towards deeper systemic and structural barriers.

Insights from the six co-creation cafés held as part of the RESIsles project reveal that a sense of political invisibility is the most significant factor driving non-participation.

Across all three countries, young people described feeling excluded from decision-making processes and convinced that their contributions do not count. This persistent feeling of not being heard, the research shows, breeds frustration and eventually leads to political inactivity.

As AKTI puts it: “When participation does not produce visible results, it turns into fatigue and, eventually, abstention.”

AKTI’s research also records distrust towards institutions as a factor that discourages the younger generations from actively engaging in dialogue on the climate crisis.

“Young people associate the lack of feedback and timely information from the state, delays in policy implementation, and the absence of visible outcomes with a deeply rooted belief: that institutions do not operate in the interest of the common good,” AKTI says.

“Without trust, participation is perceived as a waste of time.”

Everyday pressures further compound this disengagement. Social and economic fatigue emerged as yet another critical reason for disengagement.

“Daily life is demanding, economic insecurity is widespread and free time is limited,” said the organisation. “In this context, active participation is often experienced as a luxury.”

At the same time, social media seems to create a misleading sense of engagement, absorbing attention and time while replacing collective action with fragmented expressions of political engagement limited to posts and shares.

Many participants said they felt only partially informed and unsure about where or how to meaningfully participate.

The research also highlights the gap between calls for a green transition and the realities young people face.

Sixty-seven per cent of participants identified the lack of appropriate infrastructure as a major barrier, both to participation and to adopting greener practices.

According to AKTI, “Climate policy often remains an abstract concept, disconnected from everyday life, which creates cynicism and frustration.”

The absence of deposit-return recycling systems, inadequate public transport, limited access to green points and the high cost of “green” options all contribute to distancing young people from the transition they are urged to support.

Even among those who want to engage, uncertainty about how to do so remains a significant obstacle.

Forty-two per cent of participants said they did not know where to find relevant information or opportunities for participation, or which institutions were responsible. The lack of clear, accessible involvement mechanisms leaves many willing voices effectively sidelined.

Summing up the findings, the AKTI’s board of directors’ chair, Dr. Xenia I. Loizidou, said: “the results of AKTI’s research […] reveal a new generation that is willing but excluded, informed but without the necessary tools.”

If the green transition continues to be designed without meaningful participation, she warned, the problem will not be young people’s abstention, but “the failure of the system to include them in decision-making processes in an equal and transparent way.”

With a cautious hope that these messages from citizens will reach decision-makers, Loizidou emphasised:

“Young people do not reject participation; they have simply not been offered a trusted, clear, and functional way to engage, or the certainty that their voice truly matters.”