Young People Are Worried About Climate Change—and That’s Affecting Their Future Plans
Nearly 70% of those surveyed say environmental concerns may affect career choice, while others say it’s a factor in decisions about having children
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More than four in five young Americans are worried about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, according to a survey of nearly 16,000 youths published in Lancet Planetary Health on Thursday. Most respondents do not believe governments are doing enough to reduce emissions, and a majority are looking to the corporate sector to make big changes.
As this group of 16- to 25-year-olds enters the workforce, there’s some indication those feelings will affect big life decisions such as where to live, whether to have kids and what to do for work: 64% of respondents said they “strongly agree,” “agree” or “somewhat agree” that climate change will impact their plans for the future.
“We certainly can see that climate is causing a lot of distress,” said Eric Lewandowski, associate professor at New York University’s medical school and lead researcher on the study. He said this is the first survey of its kind that focuses on the U.S., and the largest his team is aware of. A global survey conducted in 2021 found similar levels of climate-related stress among youths around the world.
The study also examined links between experience of severe weather events and attitudes about climate change. The researchers found that regardless of political affiliation, people who said they had experienced severe weather events were more likely to report feeling worried about climate change. Just under half of respondents said they were “very sure” climate change is happening, and a further 20% were “moderately sure.”
“Being anxious about climate disruption is a legitimate response to a real threat,” said Lise Van Susteren, associate professor at George Washington University and researcher on the study. A co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, a group that helps therapists support patients with environment-related anxiety, Van Susteren said the survey results confirmed what she has seen on the ground, but the numbers were more severe than she expected.
It’s still not clear whether feelings about climate change transfer into broader labor force trends. While 67% of respondents said they may choose to work for employers who show commitments to sustainability and reducing their climate impact, recruiters who work on hiring entry-level candidates for oil and gas jobs say they haven’t heard much about climate concerns, said Keith Wolf, Houston-based managing partner of staffing firm Murray Resources.
Wolf informally polled recruiters on his team, and they said entry-level candidates who expressed hesitancy to work for fossil-fuel companies were outnumbered by those who wanted to break into the field. Some job candidates expressed concerns about other factors affecting the industry, like volatility.
In 2017, Ernst & Young published a survey that found college students were reluctant to pursue jobs in the oil-and-gas industry because they viewed it as “dirty and dangerous,” said Tim Haskell, managing director at the accounting firm.
Since then, he said, employers have updated their talking points. “I think companies saw that message as well as some of their own internal research and have really tried to shift the employee value proposition to say, hey, come here and change the industry from the inside out,” Haskell said.
The Lancet survey found that climate-related concerns about the future extend beyond career choice. More than three-quarters of respondents said the future is frightening, and more than half of respondents agreed that they were hesitant to have children.
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With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.
2 min
A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.
The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.
The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.
GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.
“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.
The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.
Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.
According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.
“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”
The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.
Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.
“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”
The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.
With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.
For more information, contact marc@kanerbridge.com.au
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