Only 45 per cent of the youth in Sri Lanka are aware of the destructive nature of climate change, said British Council, Sri Lanka Country Director Gill Westaway on Tuesday, at a panel discussion titled `Youth in Sri Lanka and Climate Change.

Nearly all the people who were aware about the issue expressed concern over the phenomenon, he said

Westaway said, the British Council had conducted a survey on "Climate Change - Attitudes and Behaviours" last year in Sri Lanka and India. The research was commissioned to The Nielsen Company, the global information and Media Company. Its objective was gauge the attitude and behaviour of respondents towards climate change’.

The British Council with the support of the British High Commission was committed to a campaign to mitigate the harmful effects of the climate change in a meaningful way, though the West was regarded as the major carbon contributor. Even though Sri Lanka was not a large producer of carbon, she too could make a contribution, she said.

Speaking about the Sri Lankan youth, she said they were very committed enthusiasts. But "Some students think it is not their responsibility. I think this attitude is changing very fast," she said.

Westaway was confident that their networking would help young Sri Lankans to develop their initiatives to reduce the release of harmful substances to the atmosphere.

"Though youth today are aware and concerned about climatic changes, pressure is not felt very strongly as yet, as most perceive the impact of climate change to manifest will take a long time,- 10-15 years,- rather than ‘now".

The need of the hour was to bring more and more people into the ‘urgency’ state of mind across both countries to make them act ‘now’, she added.

The survey indicated that celebrities, environmentalists, sports stars and politicians were the most influential in motivating youth to do something for the cause.

The discussion was confined to urban youth -males and females in the age group 18-35 years. The research was carried out during August - October 2008 in Colombo.

According to the study, youth were aware of the causes and ill effects of climate change, she said. Pollution, deforestation and factories were cited as the main causes for climate change.