ATHENS – Even during the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, young Greeks have shown they have other worries, ranking climate change ahead of their fears about the Coronavirus, a European Union survey found.

Some 46 percent of them put climate change at the top of their list despite the legions of people who think it's a hoax or have downplayed the seriousness in the face fo scientific evidence showing it's real and not phony.

The poll by the company Ipsos was conducted for the European Environmental Bureau but their concern about climate change wasn't the highest: it was eclipsed by anxiety over the economy and finding work, and poverty and hunger.

But young Greeks’ knowledge of climate migration is limited, even compared to the European average: only 23 percent said they knew about the term “climate migrants” compared to 33 percent of their peers in the European Union.

Also, only one in 10 young Greeks believe climate is among the three most important factors due to which people emigrate to Greece – less than the European average of 17 percent, said Kathimerini of the findings.

The pan-European End Climate Change, Start Climate of Change campaign, funded by the European Commission, surveyed people aged 15-35 in 23 European countries.