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Press Release
Europe’s post-millennial generation says climate change will be the
world’s number one challenge over the next decade
Climate and environmental threats also ranked third most important challenge today,
according to research by Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar
Marrakech, Morocco, November 16, 2016 – Eighteen to 25-year-olds in Europe say that
climate change and the environment will be the world’s biggest challenge over the next 10
years, according to research by Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.
The landmark study, which questioned nearly 5,000* post-millennial youth – the
demographic cohort known as ‘Generation Z’ – in 20 countries, also found that European
young people think that climate change and the environment are the second most serious
problem facing the world today, alongside poverty/inequality. The ‘threat of terrorism’
ranked first.
When young people in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain were asked to name
the world’s biggest challenges over the next decade, climate change and the environment
ranked top alongside terrorism, followed by poverty/inequality, the economy,
unemployment and immigration.
The ‘Masdar Gen Z Global Sustainability Survey’, unveiled at the United Nations Climate
Change Conference taking place in Morocco, interviewed 5,000* young people across the
Middle East & North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia. Countries
were also classified according to their economic development as either developed, emerging
or frontier.
European Post-Millennials are less likely than their counterparts in other parts of the world
to think that business and government share equal responsibility to develop clean technology
and renewable energy. But three in four young Europeans still argue that the responsibility
should be shared and overall, they want to see their government spending more to make
renewable energy more effective and available.
Young Europeans are also more confident in their own personal ‘greenness’ than the rest of
the developed world, according to the study.
“Young people in Europe feel confident that their own lifestyles are more environmentally
sustainable than those of people in other world regions,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi,
Chief Executive Officer of Masdar. “And in the next 10 years they want to see government
and the private sector working together more closely to develop clean technology and to
increase investment in renewable energy. It is up to policymakers and the business
community to rise to this challenge.”
Solar power is the preferred future energy source among youth in France and Spain, while
British and German Post-Millennials show a preference for wind energy, Masdar’s Gen Z
survey found.
“As we look towards the next 10 years, the findings of our global survey provide a valuable
insight into the opinions of the post-millennial generation about the world’s key sustainability
and energy-related challenges, and the action required to accelerate the adoption of
renewable energy and clean technologies,” said Al Ramahi.
“Masdar was a catalyst for the adoption of renewable energy in the Arab world, a region
where around a third of the population is between the ages of 15 and 29. Today’s youth are
the policymakers, industry leaders, technical experts and consumers of tomorrow – an
audience with whom we and the wider energy and sustainability community must engage to
realise a more sustainable future.”
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MASDAR GEN Z SUSTAINABILITY SURVEY: TOP 10 FINDINGS IN EUROPE
1. Europe’s youth say terrorism is the world’s biggest challenge today; climate change
and environment rank second
When asked for the top three challenges facing the world today, four in ten of Europe’s youth
named the threat of terrorism, with climate change/environment and poverty/inequality
ranking joint second (38%) and unemployment (27%) in fourth.
But there were marked differences between countries, reflecting different national
circumstances. In Spain, for example, young people said that unemployment was the top
challenge (44%), while in the UK, it was poverty and inequality (45%). In France, where there
has been a spate of high-profile terrorist attacks, terrorism was understandably identified as
the world’s biggest immediate challenge (46%). German Post-Millennials, however, identified
climate change and environmental threats as the biggest threat facing humanity today.
2. Climate change/environment is seen as the biggest challenge for the next 10 years
Climate change/environment is seen as the world’s biggest challenge over the next decade
by youth in all European countries surveyed except the UK, whose young people identify
poverty/inequality as the biggest concern, followed by terrorism and then climate change.
Post-Millennials in Germany are the least likely among Europeans to believe that it’s the
responsibility of Generation Z (18-25-year-olds) to solve sustainability challenges. Twentyseven per cent of German youth interviewed said that their own age-group had the most
responsibility to tackle these issues, compared with 39% in France and 33% in Spain. Young
Germans are also the least likely to say that governments need to listen more to young people
on sustainability.
3. French Post-Millennials most interested in a sustainable-related career and/or
studying sustainability
France is the only European country polled where more than half of the young people are
interesting in working in sustainability or studying the subject. That said, European youth in
general are still more significantly interested in sustainability-related careers and study than
their counterparts in the US and Japan. Around half of Spain’s youth questioned want to work
in sustainability or study it, and 44% of British youth also want to.
4. Government and business need to do more to increase adoption of renewable
energy
European youth are less likely than the rest of the global Post-Millennials interviewed to
believe that business and government share equal responsibility for developing clean
technology and renewable energy. Even so, a large majority (three in four) still agree that the
public and private sectors should accept equal responsibility. UK youth felt most strongly that
business and government should play an equal part (84%), while France’s youth felt the least
strongly (62%). Generally, young Europeans in the study want government to spend more on
renewables.
5. NGOs seen as most active when it comes to promoting renewables and clean-tech
When asked who is currently doing the most on sustainable energy consumption/production,
there are major differences in opinion between young people in different European countries.
For example, French youth are more than twice as likely as their European peers to say that
big business is currently doing the most. Overall, young Europeans believe not-for-profit
organisations such as the WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are doing the most to
develop sustainable energy (47%), followed by scientific and academic organisations and the
general public (31%).
6. Europe’s youth say they live greener lives than their counterparts elsewhere in the
developed world
Young Europeans in the study were more confident in their own personal ‘greenness’ than
their peers in the rest of the developed world, particularly Spain. Spain’s youth thought they
lived the most environmentally-friendly lives (51%), followed by youth in the UK (46%), France
(44%) and Germany (42%). Compared with the global average for developed countries, young
Europeans are more likely to perform environmentally responsible activities such as recycling
(66% compared with 62%) and reducing energy consumption (55% compared with 50%).
7. Young people disagree about the main barriers to investment in renewable energy
German and British youth are the most likely to believe that the reluctance of individuals to
change behaviour is the biggest barrier to investment in renewable energy (54% and 52%,
respectively) compared to young people in other European countries surveyed. Spanish and
French youth (55% and 51%) argue that political will/leadership is a bigger obstacle.
8. European youth have most trust in their family to act sustainably
European youth trust their families the most to act sustainably, with 81% of those polled
saying they trusted their families ‘a lot’ to do so, which is in line with the global average of
82%. Young people in the UK (75%) are more likely than those in other European nations to
trust small and local businesses to be green. Just over half (55%) of respondents in France feel
the same. European youth had limited trust in large companies to behave sustainably. Big
business ranked third from last in Masdar’s survey. The media was placed second from last,
and religious leaders rated last.
9. German youth the most confident that their country is getting greener
German and British Post-Millennials (55% and 56%, respectively) have the most confidence
that their country is getting greener. Spanish youth, on the other hand, were the least
confident in their country’s environmental track record over the past year.
10. European youth see solar energy as the future
Overall among Europe’s youth, solar power is the favourite future energy source (59%) and
wind the second most-preferred (58%). They are followed by hydroelectric power (43%), tidal
power (25%) and geothermal power (20%). Solar power is the preferred future energy source
among youth in Spain and France, while British and German young people are slightly more
in favour of wind.
British youth were the most optimistic worldwide about the potential of wind power,
according to the study. Young Germans were the least favourable towards nuclear power
across all 20 countries polled, with only 6% describing it as a priority future energy source.
-EndsSurvey Methodology*
The ‘Masdar Gen Z Global Sustainability Survey’ was done by international polling firm Penn Schoen Berland
(PSB). It analysed what members of the post-millennial cohort (those aged between 18 and 25) worldwide think
about the environment, climate change, sustainability and renewable energy.
PSB conducted 4,704 online interviews between March 4 and March 29, 2016 in 20 countries: three in the
Americas (US, Mexico and Brazil), four in Europe (UK, France, Germany and Spain), three in sub-Saharan Africa
(Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa), five in the Middle East & North Africa (Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and
Jordan), and five in Eurasia (Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan).
The findings were also analysed according to the economic development of the participating countries, with
countries classified as either ‘Developed’ (Germany, France, Spain, UK, US and Japan), ‘Emerging’ (Brazil, China,
Egypt, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Africa, UAE, Morocco) or ‘Frontier’ (Jordan, Kenya,
Nigeria).
Youth respondents were interviewed about subjects including climate change; awareness of and responsibility
for environmental issues; their own personal actions on the environment; renewable energy; education and
sustainability; and the development of clean technology including wind and solar power.
PSB conducted between 100 and 300 interviews per country depending on the level of internet penetration. The
survey’s margin of error is +/-1.43% for the total sample, with sub-groups having a larger margin of error.
For more information and the full survey results, visit www.masdar.ae/GenZSurvey.
About Masdar
Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company which works to advance the development, commercialisation
and deployment of clean energy technologies and solutions. The company serves as a link between today’s fossil
fuel economy and the energy economy of the future. Wholly owned by the Mubadala Development Company
PJSC, the strategic investment company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, Masdar is dedicated to the United
Arab Emirates’ long-term vision for the future of energy and water.
Contacts:
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel enquiries in Arabic: +971 2 653 3333
Tel enquiries in English: +971 2 653 6014
For more information please visit: http://www.masdar.ae and connect: facebook.com/masdar.ae and
twitter.com/masdar
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