Dutch less concerned about climate change as more immediate issues take precedence

Netherlands residents know more about climate change, but the topic is losing urgency in their minds, especially among young people. They know that climate change will have disastrous consequences, but consider it an “abstract concept” with “little tangible impact on their immediate environment,” research agency Ipsos I&O found in a poll. Young people also feel that there is little they can do about it.

Local themes like housing and migration have more urgency in young people’s minds. Climate change and its consequences have also dropped out of their news feeds, which are more focused on American president Donald Trump and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

“They do see that the problem exists, but they feel held back in all kinds of ways from doing something about it,” said Ipsos I&O researcher Maartje van Will. “They describe that they are stuck in a system and they see no solution for it. And they also say: if companies and countries do not take measures, my own efforts are pointless.”

The scale of the climate problem has young people feeling disheartened about the future. While 51 percent of all Dutch people are pessimistic about what the world will look like for future generations, the same is true for 59 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 63 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds.

This is the fifth time Ipsos I&O has polled Netherlands residents about climate change. Concerns about the climate have never been so small since the first poll in 2019. A substantial proportion of the Dutch believe that the government must do much more to fight climate change, but that group has also become smaller, dropping from 47 percent two years ago to 42 percent now.

Despite this, the poll shows that more Dutch people are aware that their behavior affects climate change and the number of Dutch who see that humans are responsible for global warming grew in almost all age groups.

This is especially true for young people. In 2023, 38 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds still thought that their behavior did not impact the climate. Now it is 20 percent. “Young people also know more often than older Dutch people which behaviors are sustainable and less sustainable,” the researchers said. For example, young people can easily mention sustainability measures like eating less meat, taking short showers, flying less, and buying less.