Sometimes there is frying on the line. Misunderstandings. “I remember in particular a debate on ecology, in English class”, says Mandarine, 17 years old. Passionate, the young woman explains that in her eyes it is urgent that “profound transformations” of society take place to “change things”. “I added that it was not won in advance, and my teacher answered me: ‘Come on, be a little more optimistic!’, sighs Mandarine. I wanted to say how much my generation was going to suffer, and I felt like I was taken for someone who was freaking out over nothing.” Mandarine is all the more bitter as this situation is not unprecedented. “That’s what young people feel, she says. The media and politicians know that ecology is important, but behave as if we are exaggerating.” Involved in the organization Youth for Climate, a citizen movement at the origin of school strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg, Mandarine is one of the representatives of a generation who took the measure of the climate emergency earlier than the others. But this collective awareness prevents neither contrasts nor contradictions.
Study after study, the observation comes back: climate change remains one, if not the first concern of 18-35 year olds. According to an Ipsos poll published in November, 44% of young people placed it at the heart of their concerns, ahead of purchasing power. The general population rather follows the opposite pattern. “Each generation is concerned about the environment, explains Sandra Hoibian, director general of the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Crédoc). But the further we go in time, the more the news is sensitive to the question.” A receptivity linked to a conjunction of factors. “There is the obvious role of school, which addresses global warming more. As society is more and more educated, understanding the issues is also easier, Sandra Hoibian list. Finally, the multiplication of natural disasters, droughts, heat waves contributes to the issue taking center stage for the younger generations.”
Young people divided
This sense of urgency is not without consequence: in a survey approved by the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, three-quarters of respondents in ten countries, including France, consider the future “scary”. Nearly 1 in 2 even believe that eco-anxiety weighs on their daily life. “For 15-30 year olds, the climate issue has become an existential question, says Dr Antoine Pelissolo, head of the psychiatry department at the Henri-Mondor hospital in Créteil. It leads to questions about oneself, about the choice to have children or not in the future…” Faced with this impression of disaster to come, everyone reacts differently. “This generates resentment, guilt, or helplessness. This anxiety can be a catalyst for action, but also sometimes for immobility,” he observes.
Awareness of the issues therefore does not prevent the youngest from having a differentiated relationship to ecology. In a study carried out in the spring of 2021, the group of researchers Critical Quantity thus underlined that there is no “consensus on ecology” among 16-30 year olds. On the contrary, he divided them into several distinct groups. “A minority of them – 6% – do not believe in ecological disaster or little and are even hostile to the climate movement”, explains Maxime Gaborit, assistant and doctoral student in political science, member of the Critical Quantity team. . If 19% say they are indifferent, the majority of young people feel concerned by the climate. All, however, do not fall into the same category: on the one hand, we find the “eco-invested” (18%) and the “modernists” (19%), very concerned about the climate emergency, but not not sharing the same approach: the former perceive ecology as a political practice; the latter believe that salvation will come through technological progress. There remains the greatest number, the “distant supporters”, whose strong ecological awareness does not really translate into action.
Steamroller
In fact, according to a Crédoc study, young people are clearly more likely to prefer cycling, public transport and walking than their elders (47% for 15-17 year olds compared to 33% for the rest of the population). But they are not models in all areas. On a daily basis, this same study even notes that they have “less frequent sustainable practices than the average”: fewer of them buy local or seasonal products, sort their waste or limit their electricity consumption. And if the second hand comes back into vogue, the brands of fast fashion (producing clothes quickly and cheaply), like Zara or Shein, remain very popular. Concerned about the climate, they are not except for a paradox. “Environmental concerns are illustrated differently depending on age and means, slips Sandra Hoibian. The brands of fast fashion are favored by young people because they have the advantage of being inexpensive, for example.” Those under 30 are also less persevering than their elders. “If they can practice them, they are quickly tired of the famous ‘small gestures’ asked to save the planet, and are waiting for changes to come from politicians and companies”, she continues.
The most aware are also the most committed. “The amplification of the movements is there, explains Neil Makaroff, of the Climate Action Network. Non-governmental organizations have almost doubled their numbers in the past two years. When we publish an offer, we systematically receive 200 applications from young people.” New blood that was missing. “Since the first climate strike, in September 2018, we have seen the arrival of a generation which had been little militant until then, and which is starting to shake up lines, public debates and family dinners a bit like a steamroller”, observes Jean-François Julliard, director general of Greenpeace France.
A radical generation
In fact, if this generation surprises, it is above all by its radicalism. Driven by the anguish of a deterioration in their living conditions, today’s militants seem to favor more draconian methods than those of yesterday. “In the first ecological fights of the 1970s, the militants fought for their children, their grandchildren. Those of today act for themselves, he continues. There is an acceleration of time which means that we want much faster results with more radical, more disobedient actions.” The arrival in France in 2019 of the British movement Extinction Rebellion, known for its actions of civil disobedience, is an example of this. The creation of Alternatiba in 2013 is another. The faces of these activists, however, remain fairly uniform. “Including among young people, the climate movement is the result of an often white minority, with a high level of education or diploma, coming from urban centers, admits Jean-François Julliard. It is not yet sufficiently representative of the society.”
However, urban youth are not the only ones to mobilize. “The climate is a common denominator, which implies a form of respect for the convictions of the elders by our youngest, assures a member of an environmental organization. Even outside the NGO, I do not have the impression that it is ‘young against old'”. The figures do not contradict it. According to a survey by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation published in January, 82% of people under 30 consider themselves “concerned” about climate change, when they are 87% among seniors. The gap is therefore not that insurmountable: not all boomers are climatosceptics, and not all young people are Greta Thunberg.