New Study from Sony Europe re Environmental Messages to our Children

December 11, 2009 by Brenda
Filed under Featured Posts, Green Living, Kids & Teens, News & Reviews

A pan-European study, commissioned by Sony Europe, revealed Europe’s next generation are confused by environmental messages and don’t know how to save the planet. We at TGF are concerned about this and that is why we want to try and get the correct message across to our children, from a young age and create a generation who grow up thinking that protecting the environment is part and parcel of their daily routine!

New research from Sony Europe reveals:

6 in 10 children across Europe think that conflicting messages about the environment is confusing, leading them to feel helpless and apathetic about protecting their environment

A quarter of European children don’t know how to get involved with environmental issues and don’t see what difference they can make

Young people in Europe see large businesses and governments as equally responsible for tackling environmental issues

Sony Europe commissioned the independent research that surveyed 5,000 11 – 16 year olds in UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain in July 2009 to gain a better understanding of young people’s attitudes towards the environment. Sony wanted to find out how it could help motivate and mobilise children to protect their own planet as part of it’s ethos to protect the environment ‘For the next generation’.

Commenting on the research Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said: “Young people are often interested but can also be sceptical and pessimistic over the scope for real and decisive action on the environmental issues we all face.

We need to communicate to young people not just the threats and problems, but more importantly the fact that there are inordinate solutions to the challenges of a world of six billion people, to impart not only the confidence, but the courage that together we can make the difference”.

Young people in Europe feel that big companies share equal responsibility with governments for tackling environmental issues – a clear statement that they expect technology companies like Sony to play their part.

“The results of this survey show that companies like Sony must meet the expectations of young people by playing a key role in tackling environmental problems,” said Serge Foucher, Executive Vice President of Sony Europe. “However, it also shows that we have a big challenge ahead of us to get the younger generation motivated and engaged in environmental issues.”

Sony is already looking into ways to work with young people in this area – a recent partnership with a team of children from California (Forest Guard) has helped them develop a system that detects forest fires early. The carbon dioxide emitted during these fires can equal that produced by several million cars on the road in a year. It’s these sorts of projects Sony will continue to support to inspire young people to get involved in environmental issues.

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