BERLIN, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Two-thirds of 14- to 24-year-olds in Germany felt abandoned by the older generation with regards to climate protection, according to a survey published by the German market and social research institute Sinus on Tuesday.
Among young Germans surveyed, 75 percent agreed with the statement "I have the feeling that we young people have to take the blame for the mistakes of older people in climate protection".
German youths largely agreed that politicians and political parties in particular should be held accountable for climate protection but almost half of respondents also saw the business community as responsible, according to the survey.
The student climate movement "Fridays for Future" inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was known among nine out of ten young Germans, and every fourth respondent had even participated in at least one event by the student activists.
1,102 people took part in the survey carried out between June 3-19 this year.
On Friday, protesters from the Fridays for Future movement surrounded parts of the Reichstag building in Berlin on the occasion of the last plenary session of the German parliament before the summer break. The protesters were supported by politicians from the Left Party (Die Linke).
Luisa Neubauer, one of the main coordinators for the German branch of Fridays for Future, felt that her generation had been "chronically underestimated" and demanded that political parties in Germany begin to take young people seriously.
To ignore young people would "obviously also have an effect at the ballot box", Neubauer told local German magazine Emotion, "because a lot of people are worried about our planet".
Both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer have praised the climate protection demonstrations. "I strongly support pupils taking to the streets and fighting for climate protection," said Merkel in March.
Describing Fridays for Future as "a very good development", Seehofer told the German newspaper Bild on Sunday that "every generation has its own ideas" and added that it was great when young people fought for their beliefs.
