Talk to any group of Millennials and they will quickly tell you that the one issue where there is near-universal agreement is their concern about climate change and the environment. In their minds, these two are linked and, when they speak, they echo one another that something needs to be done and done fast.
And they’re passionate.
It is their hot button. And mark my words, it won’t stop with them. Baby Boomers, Generation X and the fast-emerging Generation Z are listening.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that millennial thinking is reaching the mainstream and driving the discussion about warming oceans, rising sea water, atmospheric change, pollution, fossil fuels, alternative energy, sea coral bleaching and the depletion of marine species.
Unfortunately though, some of those who take a rather cavalier view toward climate change and environmental topics are missing the point. Perhaps they are stuck in some kind of time warp.
Now is the time to get with it.
To be sure, Millennials come with some contradictions. They are very bright but don’t follow what others would consider the customary patterns. They don’t go to bookstores, pick up The Wall Street Journal at the newsstand or have the same traditions of loyalty to companies and institutions. Yet they are fearless about their passions and ambitions, and they are influencing the discussion.
Most certainly, they are breaking with the past and the future will be different:
- They want to own a piece of Tesla and innovate alongside Elon Musk. When it comes to investing in the stock market, they don’t gravitate to the traditional patterns.
- They shock sometimes. Were you to ask them the classic question – “If you could choose one person with whom to have lunch? – you’d most likely hear the name Michio Kaku, the futurist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist or Katharine Hayhoe, the climate scientist.
- They respond to the “vibration” in their pocket. It’s their own personal news feed. That small screen is enormously powerful and their favored way of communicating.
- They skip the evening network news or CNN and go to Buzzfeed, Quartz and YouTube, opting for “Vice News Tonight,” where the coverage is up-close and personal with reporters and cameras in the midst of the fight, rather than sitting comfortably at a studio desk.
- They felt “the Bern.” They would have voted for Bernie Sanders if he had won the primary. They love him. He strikes an emotional chord … drawn in by his “protester” history and drive for change.
- Whether they agree or disagree, they want to be in the midst of the discussion, not just by-standers. Joining in on Reddit Ask Me Anything gives them just that voice.
- They want to experience it themselves. It puts them in a position to really care.
This is the stuff that is now driving the present and ready to drive the future.
After all, there is no doubt that future generations are those who will be most affected by climate change. They will feel the impact most dramatically.
Just think about it.
That is why, for example, whenever the IPCC (http://www.ipcc.ch/) – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 1988 by UN Environment (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – meets or presents its findings around the world, its scientists make a point of trying to set up sessions with the younger generations, including Millennials.
Millennials have put climate change on their own agendas. And it seems the IPCC has its fingers on the pulse. While there is no doubt that the issue needs to be approached from every angle -- including emotional and political -- in order to force change, the fact is that it is the science that is powerful. The IPCC objective assessments of future risks and potential solutions are critical to reversing the trend.
Add to that, Millennials make up the single largest group of employees in business today. Simply put, they are coming into their own.
And this means they are poised to set the priorities.
Perhaps then, it will be the millennial generation that has the drive to take the global climate change mandate farther and faster than we’ve seen to date, moving it well beyond the Paris climate agreement on greenhouse gas emissions which was ratified this week by the European Union. As a result, the agreement will now come into force in less than a year of being agreed, much faster than originally thought.
So, put on your seatbelts. Young or old, get on the bandwagon.
Climate change is ready for a boost.