Climate change awareness and themes of support to decarbonize the economy among students in Iran

Climate change awareness and support for decarbonization among different parts of society are crucial to any initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Iran is one of the top CO2-emitting countries. However, there have been limited efforts in studying the Iranian population’s knowledge of global warming, their concerns about its consequences, and their support for a decarbonized economy. In this work, we study climate change awareness and the support for decarbonization among university students in Isfahan Province. Isfahan is one of the most populated and developed provinces in Iran. Therefore, understanding the awareness and willingness to act among the educated young generation adults in this province is critical in assessing plans to mitigate climate change in Iran. We present a correlation analysis between students’ backgrounds (age, gender, economic background, and level of education) and their concerns about climate change consequences and their support for a transition toward a decarbonized economy. The results show that most surveyed students (N = 388) agree that global warming is a concerning issue. Moreover, most students have taken some actions in their personal lives to reduce their carbon footprint. However, the support for policies to prevent climate change was not as strong among the students. Our analysis shows younger students have higher support for climate actions. Moreover, female students are more aware of the climate crisis and its consequences.