Three quarters (73 per cent) of young people are concerned that the transition to net-zero will widen the social divide.

Young people have revealed concerns in new research from Co-op and its charity, the Co-op Foundation. The study explored the views of 16–24-year-olds when thinking about the journey to net-zero, including the risks and opportunities for young people.

A quarter (25 per cent) felt those on lower incomes and/or from lower socioeconomic background will feel the brunt of changing to sustainable behaviours more than those on higher incomes.

In response, those surveyed called for greater Government action to ensure a just transition that is fair and affordable to all, including subsidies for lower income families to help navigate the transition.

The study also revealed that while three quarters (76 per cent) are concerned about the UK reaching its net-zero target, there is a strong appetite amongst young people to help get there with 91 per cent believing that young people should be involved in decisions on how to reduce the UK's emissions and 75 per cent being personally interested in being part of this.

There is also optimism about the future, with the vast majority (72 per cent) seeing the transition as an opportunity for their generation, but despite this appetite, four in five (79 per cent) think that politicians do not listen to ‘people like them’ when making decisions. There is also an apparent lack of confidence in their understanding of climate change and calls for greater education, with almost half (47 per cent) stating a lack of education on the topic. Almost a third (30 per cent) call for more opportunities to hear about possible jobs and careers for them to help the UK reach its targets.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, CEO at the Co-op said: “It couldn’t be clearer from this research that young people from all backgrounds care about climate change, despite other challenges they are experiencing at the moment. We’ve been campaigning for a just transition to net-zero for a number of years, and while there will be many exciting opportunities as we progress on that journey, leaders in every sphere will need to ensure that fairness is a central consideration in the decisions that need to be taken.”

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