Gen Z's Climate Coalition

Millennials and Gen Z Sound the Alarm on Climate Change 

Whether it’s Russian landgrabs or international terrorism, young Americans tend to be less concerned about global issues than their parents and grandparents. One key exception? The climate crisis.   

Six in 10 of both Millennials and Gen Z view climate change as a critical threat to US interests, recent Council polling finds. Just about half of other generations say the same.  

“This gap may not seem large at first, but since younger generations are relatively less concerned about threats to US interests across the board on this question, it’s important to look at where they place climate change relative to other concerns,” Emily Sullivan writes. “Climate change is viewed as the second-most concerning threat by Millennials and Gen Z. For Gen X, Boomers, and the Silent Generation, climate change doesn’t even make it into the top half of their list.” 

More takeaways in our Running Numbers blog.  

The Data Dimension

While older Americans may be less concerned about climate change than their younger counterparts, that doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to take meaningful action. The 2022 Chicago Council Survey also finds that about half of each generation believe the United States should move to address the crisis now, even if it involves serious costs.  

What We're Watching

• Protests in Peru: Universidad del Pacífico professor Cynthia Sanborn and the Wall Street Journal’s Ryan Dube join Deep Dish to unpack what’s driving the country’s unprecedented political instability. 
• The Wagner Group’s growing influence: “Burkina Faso is just the latest African country where the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked mercenary organization has become the face of Russia’s foreign policy,” Elizabeth Shackelford writes. 
• US industrial policy:  Americans are particularly supportive of protectionism when measures aim to constrain great power rivals, Phillip Meng posits, pointing to recent polls.  
• Ethiopia’s civil war ceasefire: Emma Sanderson explains how a decades-old rivalry between neighboring Eritrea and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front could threaten an already fragile peace in Tigray.  

Ask an Expert

Will Ukraine make territorial concessions to Russia? 
“Not all wars end—or end in peace negotiations. Many fester for years, and even with little or any fighting, peace is often absent. The Korean War ended with an armistice; the Yom Kippur War with disengagement agreements. Neither produced territorial concessions or compromises. Such an outcome of this war is far more likely than a final, negotiated peace.” 

—Council President Ivo Daalder in Foreign Affairs