Exploring how Gen Z’s urgency, activism, and tech-driven approach could redefine global climate action

Byline: Neha Khanna, Associate Director, and Zeya Farhan, Junior Analyst, at Climate Policy Initiative

Growing up with climate disruption being a backdrop in their daily lives, Gen Z – bold, outspoken, and driven by urgent anxiety – refuses to accept the status quo. In August 2018, Greta Thunberg sparked a global movement, ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet’ – School Strike for Climate, protesting outside the Swedish parliament, demanding action against a climate crisis her generation didn’t cause. This frustration resonates deeply with Generation Z, raised amid climate disasters, political gridlock, and ecological erosion. Movements like #FridaysForFuture became a global youth initiative, inspiring millions of young people to engage in climate activism. However, while activism raises awareness, it is also a double-edged sword. The question is – are they capable of catalysing the eco-revolution, or will they, like their previous generations, win the battle but lose the war

While the world is already bearing the brunt of climate change, Gen Z can make a difference starting from school. Born into a world in crisis, they are witnessing record-breaking temperatures, melting ice caps, wildfires, and devastating floods. They are feeling the weight of eco-anxiety, an emotional and psychological distress experienced in response to the threats of climate change and environmental degradation. Although not a medical diagnosis, it is regarded as a rational response to the realities of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that we have just five years to halve greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate change is no longer a distant threat – it’s accelerating and affecting millions, especially the most vulnerable, regarding food security, water access, and mass displacement.

Gen Z is the most climate-aware generation and thus has an advantage like no previous generation. The last few decades of climate discourse have increased the emphasis on climate education for younger people. This has influenced the cohort’s school and university curricula, which increasingly include environmental sciences, with many students enrolling in climate-specific degrees. Climate education is better than ever – integrated not just into formal education but also pop culture and digital platforms. Whether it’s climate-focused Discord servers or Instagram reels breaking down the latest IPCC report in 30 seconds – from organizing protests via digital platforms to exposing corporate greenwashing campaigns with meme warfare, the cohort is blending activism with digital disruption. Importantly, their message is intersectional, linking climate change with social justice, economic inequality, gender, and mental health.

65 per cent of surveyed Gen Z state that they have felt worried or anxious about climate change in the last month, 70 per cent say environmental credentials and policies are important when considering a potential employer, and 65 per cent are willing to dish out more money to purchase environmentally sustainable products. While this eco consciousness puts them at the forefront of today’s climate movement, it didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Previous generations have played an important role in elevating the climate discourse into the mainstream culture and setting the stage. There is a chain of milestones that have had a compounding impact on how we see the climate crisis today – from Gen X laying the foundation by working on global crises like the ozone hole and oil spills, setting up key frameworks such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement to Millennials pushing for corporate sustainability, zero-waste lifestyles, and divestment from fossil fuels. Gen Z has inherited a cultural and political baseline, which complements their urgency and immediacy for solutions to climate change mitigation.

Zoomers are much more receptive to innovative solutions, from tangible approaches such as sustainable packaging and circular economy to intangible approaches such as selecting companies based on their emissions intensity. They demand higher responsibility from corporations, not just from industries that produce goods but also from financiers who invest in businesses. Novel methods, such as calculating financed emissions and carbon rating frameworks, enable responsible investing, ensuring financiers also play their part in climate action.

These solutions resonate with a generation raised on data and fed up with greenwashing; they don’t want companies to claim they’re green; they demand evidence. Building on the groundwork laid before them, there is a genuine desire for corporate responsibility and structural change, not just consumer guilt – they reject the notion that individual choices alone can solve the climate crisis. The real conversation isn’t just about paper straws or reusable tote bags; it’s also about carbon disclosures, ethical supply chains, and extended producer responsibility. They want the economic, political, and corporate systems around them to evolve and carry their share of the weight, and, increasingly, they are organizing to ensure that happens.

While ideals are great, they often clash with reality. The cohort is entering adulthood during global geopolitical and economic instability, rising debts, and ever-increasing cost of living. Sustainable products are priced at a premium, and the economic realities contradict these ideals. But all is not lost, and the long-term trend looks promising. Like Millennials, who slowly gained relevance and influenced the trend of low-waste and eco-friendly products, as Zoomers gain more financial power, they might turn their values into economic choices and fund the change that is sorely needed.

Gen Z can be a catalyst for change, but revolutions are collective. Young people can spark movements and shape narratives, but they need institutions to evolve, other generations to listen, and policymakers to act. It is tempting to frame the climate story as a generational showdown where Gen Z steps up and stops the climate disaster. But even if they lead the charge, will other generations follow? Millennials are right behind Gen Z regarding climate awareness, and they now manage the systems that Zoomers are trying to change. A true eco-revolution will need generational alignment – Gen Z to lead, Millennials to rethink the systems they now manage and amplify younger voices, and older generations to vote for bold policy. Transformative change will require solidarity across age groups, class, and geographies. It’s not about passing the torch to younger generations and stepping back; it’s about stepping up alongside them.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.