RESEARCH from the University of York has called for older people to be involved more in discussing and tackling climate change issues.

A new study by researchers in the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), at the university, has highlighted the need to include people in their 50s and 60s in planning to combat climate change.

The report was prepared in partnership with the Community Service Volunteers’ Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP), and urged the scrapping of stereotypes which suggest that older people are incapable of engagement, passive or disinterested in climate change.

Dr Gary Haq is a human ecologist at the SEI and lead author of the report, and said climate change messages needed to be changed to address the older population.

“Recent evidence from the older age sector highlight the inadequacies of current methods of information provision and community engagement on climate change.

“It is critical to implementing policies to tackle climate change and to address the needs of an ageing population,” he said.

“The engagement and participation of older people in climate change issues are important as older people can be seen as potential contributors to, and casualties of, climate change as well as potential campaigners to tackle the problem.”

Dave Brown, co-author and member of RSVP, said older people may want to take action, but do not feel they can help.

“While older people are concerned about climate change, they do not feel they will be directly affected. Nor do they feel they can personally take action to stop it,” he said.

The report sets out a ten-point plan to engage older people more effectively on climate change issues and greener living, and claims that a combination of climate change and an ageing population will have wide ranging socio-economic and environmental impacts.

It acknowledged that older people may also be physically, financially and emotionally less able to cope with the effects of climate-related weather events.