From Greta
to Grandma
The climate crisis is all over the media: People are protesting, blocking streets, tossing soup on famous pieces of art - but it's mostly relatively young activists we see. So what about the older generations - do they care at all?
In 2018, then 15-year-old Greta Thunberg started the climate activism movement “Fridays for Future”. Since then, climate activism has spread all over the world.
Youth-led groups such as “Last Generation” are voicing their anger about the lack of action by politicians with more extreme forms of activism, glueing themselves to streets and throwing mashed potatoes or tomato soup on famous paintings. It paints the picture that young people are worried about the consequences of the climate crisis.
But what about older generations? Often forgotten by the media, the public perception is that older people tend to not care as much about climate change:
Many people, like Sophia who is 16 years old and live in London, believe that younger generations are more engaged with the climate crisis.
[Background picture: Aslıhan Altın, Unsplash]
Who cares about climate change?
According to surveys from King’s College London and The Policy Institute, almost half of the British population believe that older generations care less about the climate crisis than younger generations.
But, according to the same surveys, this perception might be a myth.
[Source: King's College London, The Policy Institute, NewScientists]
Almost three out of four people in the Baby Boomer generation believe that climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental issues are big enough problems to justify significant changes to people's lifestyles. These numbers are, in fact, a bit lower for Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.
This shows that older generations might care just as much as the younger ones. As 63-year-old Sheila says:
"I worry about my grand children. About how it will be in the future."
Sheila, who is 63 years old and from the United Kingdom, gets information about climate change from TV, magazines, radio and podcasts.
Just like Sheila, 49-year-old Martin does not believe that the climate crisis is a topic which only concerns young people.
[Source: Pew Research Center]
Vanessa Gruber is a climate journalist for the Austrian news program "Zeit im Bild". She also believes that older generations care just as much or more about climate change than younger people:
"The over-50-year-olds are particularly interested in climate change pieces."
Social media is the main source of information for people at the age of 18-24. In contrast, almost half of all people over the age of 55 quote TV-news as their most important news source.
Main usage of media divided in age groups Austria 2022
[Source: diemedien.at]
According to Vanessa Gruber, the average viewer of the most viewed Austrian news program, "Zeit im Bild", is 62 years old. How people are portrayed in programs such as this can have a big influence on how the different generations are perceived concerning climate change.
For example, the news channels focus a lot on extreme acts of activism like blocking streets and throwing soup at paintings which are often carried out by young people. This can lead to young people being mainly portrayed as activists in the media, says Vanessa Gruber:
[Background picture: Jane Doan, Pexels]
Who does the climate crisis
affect the most?
The people who are affected the most by climate change are the people who contribute least to its causes – the low-income countries. That is the conclusion from the World Health Organization.
Climate change is especially dangerous to people who already have poor health. Thus, old people are a particularly vulnerable group.
According to The European Climate Adaptation Platform, one of the most severe consequences of climate change is health impacts due to heat. This applies to older people in particular as they are more likely to suffer from extreme weather phenomena.
As this graph from the United States' National Climate Assessment shows, low income communities, communities of color, children, and older adults are most affected by the climate crisis.
For example, older people are more vulnerable to extreme events that cause power outages or require evacuation. Adaptation plans that take these communities into account cannot only help soften the impact of climate change, but also help address social inequality.
[Source: United States' National Climate Assessment]
Hildegard Schweder is the co-founder of the climate activism group "Omas for Future Österreich" ("Grandmothers for Future Austria"). In her experience, her age group knows and cares about the climate crisis, but it's harder to get them up and going to really do something:
"We need everyone from all ages to get a grip on the climate crisis. It is not possible for just one generation."
Hildegard Schweder and "Omas for Future Österreich" want to show that young and old people can work together for a common goal.
[Background picture: Jose Ignacio, Unsplash]
Green thinking ≠ green voting
But why do we then have the conception that old people don’t care about the climate crisis?
One reason might be election results. According to Institut für Strategianalysen, at the latest election for parliament in Austria in 2019 more than 40 percent of the voters above 60 years voted for the conservative party ÖVP. In comparison, one fourth of the voters below 29 years voted for the green party, Grüne.
The election results might give the impression that older generation don’t care about the climate crisis. But there could be other explanations.
According to Institut für Strategianalysen, the most important topics for the ÖVP-voters during the election were health and labour. For the Grüne-voters, it was climate and environment.
Thus, the older generation didn’t necessarily vote for ÖVP because they don’t care about the climate crisis. They voted for the ÖVP because they agree on their health and labour politics.
[Source: Institut für Strategianalysen]
Ageism in media
"Young people do not know anything and should not be making important decisions."
"Old people do not know about technology."
These are common examples of "ageism". According to the World Health Organisation, ageism is the name for the stereotypes and prejudices we have against other age groups than our own – and the discrimination that follows.
According to the National Poll on Healthy Aging 2020 from the United States, more than 8 out of 10 older Americans reported experiencing ageism regularly. More than every sixth of them experienced ageist messages from the media.
Stefan Hopf, researcher at Vienna Centre for Societal Security, explains how age discrimination in media affects the older generations:
[Background picture: Mika Baumeister, Unsplash]
Climate care is ageless
The climate crisis is all over the media – in TV, newspapers, and on social media. It is a common conception that younger generations care more than older ones, but that is not the case. The whole world's population is affected by climate change, and people in all age groups are working hard for a more sustainable world.
Media plays a huge role in covering the climate crisis and the consequences that come with it. Therefore, it is important to improve the coverage so that it includes and represents everyone involved, says Hildegard Schweder from "Omas for Future Österreich":
Hildegard Schweder, Grandmothers for Future Austria
Clara Porák, freelance journalist and co-founder of Netzwerk Klimajournalismus Österreich, agrees that it is important for the media coverage to appeal to all age groups. Thus, the media have to consider how to include the older generations in the climate coverage, for example by making the coverage about changes in nature:
Clara Porák, freelance journalist and co-founder of Netzwerk Klimajournalismus Österreich.
Heat waves and flooding do not care about age - neither should the media when covering climate crisis.
According to journalist Vanessa Gruber, we should be focusing on educating and informing. Not only about consequences, but also about best practice examples.
Vanessa Gruber, journalist at the ORF.
[Background picture: NASA, Unsplash]
by Nickie Stilling Karlsen, Livio Koppe, Mariam Makatsaria & Roksolana Babii
Mentor: Saskia Hödl