The generation most afraid for the planet is the one doing the least to protect it

There's an uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of today's youngest generation: no age group has ever expressed more concern for the planet's future — and that concern has never translated into less individual action.

The data confirms it. In a 2024 global survey by GlobeScan and BBMG across 31 markets, more than 7 in 10 Gen Z respondents said they're extremely worried about current and future environmental harm caused by human activity. Nearly 4 in 10 report feeling stressed or anxious most or all of the time — more than double the rate of older generations. Climate change isn't an abstract topic for them; it's an active source of anxiety.

And yet the same study reveals something that contradicts the image of this generation as the "greenest" in history: their actual commitment to reducing their environmental footprint dropped from 76% in 2020 to 68% in 2024. The belief that consuming less is essential to protect future generations also fell, from 66% to 56% in just four years. And more young people now believe their individual actions don't make a difference — up from 33% to 42% over the same period.

It's not that they don't care. It's that they feel powerless.

What matters to them (and what they say they want)

The concern is real, and it comes with civic engagement. According to Pew Research Center, 32% of Gen Z took at least one climate-related action in the past year — donating, contacting an elected official, volunteering, or attending a rally — compared with 23% of Gen X and 21% of Baby Boomers. Nearly half actively use social media to learn about and discuss the issue.

On consumption, stated intentions are just as clear: various studies put the share of young people willing to pay more for sustainable products between 64% and 73%, and 83% believe the fashion industry has a responsibility to reduce its environmental impact.

The problem isn't a lack of values. It's the distance between what they value and what they do.

The direct impact: what they buy

This is where the data gets uncomfortable. A Sheffield Hallam University study found that 9 in 10 surveyed young people had recently bought fast fashion despite saying they preferred sustainable clothing — and only 1 in 6 could name a single sustainable brand. A Financial Times analysis found 46% of Gen Z admit to impulse purchases driven by what they see on social media feeds.

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

The fashion industry — driven in large part by this consumption pattern — is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Fast fashion is now a $150+ billion industry, growing at more than 10% a year.

Researchers have a name for the gap between what's said and what's bought: the "sustainability-consumption paradox." Young people know. And they buy anyway, pushed along by the algorithm, the price, and the fear of missing out

The indirect impact: disconnection

There's a second kind of impact — less visible, but just as profound — that comes not from what young people are doing, but from what they've stopped doing: being outside.

Youth aged 8-18 spend an average of about four hours a day on screens, not counting schoolwork — a figure that rose 52% during the pandemic and hasn't fully come back down. One U.S. study found that 12-year-olds spend less than 6 hours per week outdoors — less time than they spend on a screen in a single day.

A Canadian national study of more than 24,000 young people describes this as the "displacement hypothesis": screen use is linked to the declining importance nature holds in young people's lives. It's not just that they're busy. It's that, little by little, nature stops being part of their everyday world — and with it, so does the motivation to protect it. It's hard to care about protecting something you barely come into contact with.

The good news, according to a systematic review of 35 scientific studies, is that exposure to nature has a measurable, positive effect on emotional wellbeing, self-esteem, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and young people. The disconnection isn't irreversible.

What we can do: from anxiety to concrete action

Knowing this, the question isn't whether young people care about the planet — they do, deeply. The question is how to close the gap between that concern and daily action, especially where it shows up most: consumption.

A few concrete directions, backed by what the evidence shows:

·       Make the real cost of "cheap" visible. Research shows that when young people learn the specific environmental impact of a brand, their purchase intent measurably drops. Concrete information — not generic guilt — is what actually shifts behavior.

·       Reduce the friction of buying well, not just buying fast. 46% of impulse purchases come from social feeds built for exactly that. Countering it means making the sustainable choice just as accessible and visible as the impulsive one.

·       Recover real time outdoors. If screens are displacing nature and weakening the bond that comes with it (and, with it, the instinct to protect it), the fix starts with simple, sustained experiences of actually being outside — not lectures about the environment, but real time inside it.

·       Turn climate anxiety into agency, not paralysis. Young people with more civic participation — volunteering, activism, direct contact with nature — report feeling less powerless, not more.

At Caoba, we think that last point matters most. This isn't about lecturing anyone on sustainability — young people already know the numbers better than most. It's about giving them back the direct experience of inhabiting nature, not just observing it through a screen. Because the data is clear: people who spend real time in nature protect it differently.

Visit www.reservacaoba.com

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Sources: GlobeScan & BBMG (2024), Pew Research Center, Ipsos Consumer Tracker, Sheffield Hallam University, Financial Times, Fashion Revolution, Canadian national study on screen use and nature connection (Michaelson et al., 2020), U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, systematic review on nature and child wellbeing (Tillmann et al., 2018).