Engaging young generations in climate research

Abstract

Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. However, young generations can also play a crucial role in climate research, to produce scientific knowledge to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. Unlike senior scholars, who often have established and fixed knowledge systems, young people could bring fresh and innovative ideas to climate research. Furthermore, involving youth ensures a sustainable approach to tackling climate issues, as they will be the ones most affected in the long term.

While opportunities and programmes such as these aim to bolster their voice, ECRs are still constrained by a lack of funding support, limited access to grant opportunities, substandard laboratory facilities and equipment, and a lack of tenure security. Also, they are often perceived as inexperienced and face limited access to engage in the climate research field compared with senior researchers. For instance, only 6% of journal articles are reviewed by ECRs according to the report Peer Review in 2015: A Global View (https://go.nature.com/4ifeyZ7). It is also worth noting that ECRs often dedicate their unpaid ‘free time’ to enhance their future job prospects. As projects provide only temporary employment, the time invested is crucial for advancing their careers. Some ECRs may feel financial distress due to insufficient financial resources to support themselves. Their contributions and outputs should be fairly recognized and valued.