Young people in Spain face many problems, but climate change, or the ecological crisis in general, is typically ranked among the most important ones (Eurobarometer, 2022). The slim chance of meeting the 1.5 °C temperature target set by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement requires urgent and drastic action. Today’s young generation will have to make significant changes in their lifestyles, both to reduce carbon emissions and to adapt to a warmer climate, arguably caused by previous generations.

The issue of climate change is highly interconnected with economic inequality (Chancel, 2022). While the average Spanish person, as in most other industrialised countries, has a carbon footprint of around 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) per year, the very rich have footprints which are many times higher (Drews & Konc, 2023). These high emissions derive from multiple sources, such as hypermobile lifestyles, owning and using one or more large houses, cars, boats, etc. Moreover, emissions tend to be slightly higher (7%) among baby boomers than for younger adults, reflecting, among other things, increasing economic prosperity over the course of a lifetime (Zheng et al., 2022; Drews & Konc, 2023). Furthermore, it is evident that although the effects of climate change are already being felt today, it is the younger generation that will suffer the most. 

While these facts raise important issues of intergenerational fairness, they have received relatively little attention in public discourse. It is unknown how young people perceive such carbon inequalities and what consequences these perceptions may have on attitudes towards policy solutions. 

This article reports several key findings from an online survey conducted among a sample of 1,547 Spanish citizens aged between 16 and 32 (average = 28.3). The survey was conducted in December 2022 and quotas were used to make the sample representative of the population in terms of gender and geographical region. 

The first step was to explore how young people perceive differences in personal carbon footprints in Spain. Before responding to questions about carbon footprints, participants were given a brief explanation of how a carbon footprint is measured, including some examples (e.g., 1.5 tonnes of CO₂e from driving a medium-sized car for about 10,000 km). About 56% of the survey respondents believe that the differences in the carbon footprint of the general population of Spain are large or very large. Since the research focused on young people, it was also important to measure how they perceive differences within their own social group. The survey results indicate that young people perceive differences within their own age group to be slightly smaller. 

The next step was to explore how respondents perceive carbon footprints in terms of concrete numbers. Respondents were informed that the average footprint in Spain is around 5 tonnes of CO₂e per year. They were then asked to select ranges of footprint values representing three groups, namely the bottom 10%, the top 10% and the top 1% of emitters. The results show, for example, that 22% of respondents think that the footprints of the top 1% of emitters were over 50 tonnes of CO₂e per year.

The perceived carbon footprints were then compared with actual consumption footprint values derived from publicly available data sources for Spain (World Inequality Database, 2022). These data indicate that, on average, the top 1% of emitters in Spain generate approximately 20 tonnes of CO₂e, the top 10% generate 10 tonnes of CO₂e, while the bottom 10% are responsible for 2 tonnes of CO₂e. These data were used to calculate the percentage of respondents who either perceived footprints fairly accurately, or provided an over- or underestimation of emissions. A footprint perception is considered accurate if it is within +/- 50% of the actual value. For example, perceptions for the top 1% between 10 and 30 tonnes were classified as accurate. The comparison between perceived and actual footprints shows that around 20% of young Spaniards tend to underestimate the emissions of the top 1% of emitters, while almost 35% provide an overestimation. In general, respondents have more accurate perceptions of the bottom of the footprint distribution, tending to overestimate rather than underestimate the emissions of each group: bottom 10%, top 10%, and top 1%.

The next step was to explore the extent to which respondents perceive differences in carbon footprints across four groups of the population, namely young versus old, and poor versus rich. Specifically, the survey asked how the average footprints of these groups compare to the Spanish average (5 tonnes of CO₂e). Some 40% of respondents believe that older people have above-average footprints, while nearly 30% think this is true for young people. Actual data for Spain indicates that the carbon footprints of older people are slightly higher (7%) than those of younger people (Drews & Konc, 2023). Perceptions of footprint differences were more clear-cut for the role of income: almost 80% of respondents consider carbon footprints of people with high incomes (> 100,000 euros net per year) to be higher than the average footprints. These perceptions are correct, since it has been clearly established that in many countries, including Spain, carbon emissions increase with income (Chancel, 2022).

Another question referred to the extent to which people and households can reduce their carbon footprints. For example, richer households can more easily switch to a new car with a lower carbon intensity. Younger people may be more flexible in changing climate-relevant habits. The most common view (45%) is that both age groups have the same possibilities. In contrast, slightly more than half of the respondents think that high-income households find it easier to reduce their carbon footprints.

In addition to measuring perceptions of carbon inequality, a second important goal was to gauge whether young people think that climate policy should address carbon inequality. First, a general question in this respect was asked: while only 20% of respondents think that the government’s objective should be to reduce emissions independently of people’s differences in carbon footprints, 74% of young people are in favour of addressing carbon inequalities. Specifically, 49% think that the government should ensure that everyone reduces their footprint, focusing on those with the highest footprint reducing their emissions the most, and 25% think that the government should provide opportunities so that everyone can reduce their footprint.

Finally, respondents were asked to what extent they favour or oppose several policy instruments that have (distinct) potential to reduce carbon inequality. On average, the highest level of support (79%) is for introducing a tax on assets that are particularly harmful for the climate (e.g., shares in fossil fuel companies), which the authors of this article have labelled as “tax on dirty assets”. Other policies, such as a general carbon tax or a wealth tax, also received high levels of support among young people. There is only one policy that does not receive majority support, namely an aviation tax on frequent flights. The survey also looked at how respondents’ political ideology, measured on a left-right scale, relates to their attitudes towards policies. For example, the tax on dirty assets receives about 10% more support from participants who identify as left-wing, but there is still a majority of right-wing respondents who support this policy. In contrast, there is no clear difference in support for the aviation tax across the political spectrum. Regarding other socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, income, or age (16-24 vs. 25-32 years), no significant differences in policy attitudes were found.

This article has examined young people’s perceptions of carbon inequality in Spain and their support for policy interventions. The results demonstrate that most young people perceive that differences in carbon footprints are large (33%) or very large (24%). 

When comparing perceptions with concrete numerical estimates of carbon footprints from academic sources, it appears that only a minority of respondents have fairly accurate perceptions and that more people tend to overestimate – rather than underestimate − the level of the carbon footprints of top emitters; that is, those belonging to the top 10% or the top 1%. In line with actual academic data, the results also clearly indicate that young people are much more likely to perceive footprint differences as being related to differences in income than in age. For example, over 70% of respondents think that high-income people have higher carbon footprints than the average person. Hence, it seems reasonable that most young people support that carbon inequality should be considered in the planning of a low-carbon transition. Moreover, there is high support for climate-based wealth taxation and several other measures that could reduce carbon inequality. 

Finally, the results should be interpreted with some caution because approximately 62% of the respondents self-reported a left-wing political orientation, which is slightly higher than other survey data indicate for this age group. This sample feature may increase inequality perceptions and policy attitudes by a few percentage points. Nevertheless, the results have shown that even respondents who self-identified as right-wing support, in most cases, policies such as a tax on dirty assets or general wealth taxation. In any case, the results suggest that carbon inequality is an issue that deserves more attention in future research and public debate on climate policy.

CHANCEL, L. (2022): «Global carbon inequality over 1990-2019», Nature Sustainability, 5(11), 931-938. 

DREWS, S., T. KONC (pendiente de publicación): «Inequality of emissions across income and age in Spain», el Observatorio Social de la Fundación ”la Caixa”.

EUROBARÓMETRO (2022): Encuesta especial EB517 «Futuro de Europa». 

WORLD INEQUALITY DATABASE (WID) (2022). Fuente: https://wid.world/country/spain/ (última consulta: 01.12.2022).

ZHENG, H., et al., (2022): «Ageing society in developed countries challenges carbon mitigation», Nature Climate Change, 12(3), 241-248.