"Most youth respondents perceived political parties' concern on climate change are low," executive director of Indikator Politik Indonesia, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, said while presenting the young voters and climate change research report online from Jakarta on Wednesday.
In the survey, 82 percent of the total 4,020 respondents, aged 17–35 years, indicated that they have an understanding of climate change, 52 percent said they were "very concerned" about climate change, and 30 percent indicated they were "somewhat concerned", Muhtadi informed.
Regarding youth voters' level of concern on various issues, environmental degradation was second with 52 percent of the respondents saying they were "very concerned" over the issue, while corruption topped the list, with 64 percent respondents expressing concern over it, he added.
Indonesian youth voters said they understood the necessity to act on climate change, but they felt that most political parties lack focus on tackling climate change, Muhtadi said.
The respondents felt that no political party has taken sufficient action to tackle climate change, with just 5 percent of respondents saying that all political parties named in the research were "very committed" to the climate change issue, he informed.
"Young voters found that party elites insufficiently reacted on the climate change and environmental degradation issues," the executive director said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Cerah Foundation executive director Adhityani Putri expressed the hope that the survey will encourage party elites and policymakers to redirect their focus to climate change and environmental issues.
Focusing on climate change issues and incorporating the climate change agenda into the party platform would be strategically beneficial for political parties, as around 80 million young voters would participate in the 2024 general elections, she added.
"We hope this survey result would make our politicians and policymakers aware that climate change should become the main political agenda in Indonesia, as the issue has played an important role in political issues of major countries in the world," Putri stated.
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Translator: Prisca Triverna V, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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