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Published on: March 31, 2023
Youth Perspectives on the Climate Crisis: Motivation and Action Pathways.
Anne-Wil Kramer1,2, Judith van de Wetering1, Suzanne van de Groep1
1Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Developmental Science
|May 15, 2026
Summary
Young people can transform climate anxiety into action when their motivation is intrinsic or identified. Collective action and empowering communication are key to supporting youth engagement in sustainable transitions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Psychology
- Youth Studies
- Climate Change Communication
Background:
- Young people are crucial agents for sustainable transitions.
- Understanding youth climate-related worry, wellbeing, and pro-environmental motivations is essential.
- Existing research often overlooks youth perspectives in climate action planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between climate-related worry, pro-environmental behavior, and affective wellbeing in young people, considering motivational factors.
- To explore youth preferences for climate change communication strategies.
- To investigate youth perspectives on motivating collective-systemic versus individual pro-environmental actions.
Main Methods:
- Combined survey data (N=1479) from the Urban Rotterdam Project (2021, 2023) with youth participatory data (N=114, 2024).
- Utilized self-determination theory to analyze the quality of motivation for pro-environmental behavior.
- Employed a youth participatory approach to gather insights on communication and action preferences.
Main Results:
- Climate-related worry correlated with increased pro-environmental behavior for youth with intrinsic or introjected motivation.
- Identified motivation led to high pro-environmental behavior irrespective of worry levels.
- Climate-related worry consistently reduced affective wellbeing across all motivation types.
- Youth favored collective-systemic actions over individual ones for greater motivation, wellbeing, and sustainability impact.
- Preferred climate communication strategies were risk-emphasizing, positive, and empowering, avoiding humor or purely factual approaches.
Conclusions:
- Supporting youth motivation is vital for channeling climate-related worry into effective pro-environmental behavior.
- Youth perspectives highlight the importance of collective action and empowering communication for climate engagement.
- Involving youth as active contributors enhances research and evidence-informed climate action.
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