According to a survey, young people in Europe feel most threatened by climate change.

This is shown by the youth study by the TUI Foundation, which was presented on Thursday.

According to this, 76 percent of those surveyed see warming as the greatest threat, followed by the Ukraine war (64 percent) and the pandemic (50 percent).

For the sixth representative youth study "Young Europe" by the TUI Foundation, the opinion research institute YouGov surveyed more than 6,000 people between the ages of 16 and 26 in Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Poland in April 2022.

The participants were selected based on gender and age so that they correspond to the distribution in their respective countries.

71 percent of those surveyed find that compromises are necessary in order to achieve success in climate protection.

Every second respondent sees measures against the climate crisis as securing future freedom.

The majority of European youth sees the war in Ukraine as a turning point.

Twenty-six percent of respondents “strongly” and 40 percent “somewhat” agree with this statement.

There are differences between the countries: Young Greeks in particular see the war as a fundamental turning point that is changing the world order.

43 percent of them perceive the war as "strong", 38 percent "somewhat" as a turning point.

In Germany, the rating is very close to the overall values: 28 percent of those surveyed agree “strongly”, 39 percent “somewhat”.

What do young people think about the Ukraine war?

In Poland, Germany, Italy and Greece in particular, young people see Russia's attack on Ukraine as a personal threat. In Great Britain, fears are least pronounced.

The fear of a war in an EU country is increasing compared to previous surveys: almost half (46 percent) of young Europeans think a war in an EU member state is possible in the next ten years, in 2020 it was only 37 percent.

In order to improve the humanitarian situation, young Europeans express a high level of willingness for personal and state commitment.

Above all, measures that entail fewer personal costs receive approval.

Two thirds (68 percent) of those surveyed would take in refugees in their own country.

54 percent of them would accept their country supplying arms to other countries in order to stop war crimes and human rights violations there.

On the other hand, the willingness is significantly lower, higher costs for petrol (35 percent of young Europeans agree, 45 percent in Germany), for food (35 percent Europe, 45 percent Germany) and for heat and electricity (34 percent Europe, 44 percent Germany) to accept.

The TUI Foundation has been asking young people about their future prospects since 2017.

Never before have young people rated their own prospects as negatively as this year.

In Germany, more than a third of those surveyed are pessimistic about the future.

In France and Great Britain, as many as 41 percent say so.

All three countries thus recorded an increase of several percentage points compared to 2017.

With regard to the pandemic, more than three out of five respondents state that their mental health has been adversely affected.

Respondents from Greece say this particularly frequently (72 percent).

The pandemic also had a strong impact on the financial situation and career opportunities of young people there.