Vast Majority Of Gen Z Cares About Animals And Nature, New Study Shows

The vast majority of educated Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) in the US and Asia are concerned about animals and the environment and have changed their own behavior as a result, a new study has found.

Faunalytics and The Good Growth Co surveyed 381 university-educated adults aged between 18 and 26 from the US, China, Thailand, and Indonesia. Researchers asked participants about motivators for making lifestyle changes, barriers to improving animal and environmental protections in their countries, solutions to these barriers, and motivators for considering careers in environmental or animal protection.

The study found that 93 percent of respondents are concerned about the environment and animals. In total, 84 percent said they had changed their behavior as a result of this concern, with a higher proportion of Thai and Indonesian respondents having done so than American or Chinese.

But the study results show that concerned young people don’t know how to take effective action. Most lifestyle changes reported by respondents concerned individual mitigation efforts such as recycling, avoiding single-use plastics, and buying more environmentally friendly products. Across all countries, only a minority of respondents mentioned dietary change or farmed animals as specific areas of action or concern. This is despite adopting a plant-based diet being one of the most effective ways people can reduce their environmental impact and help animals at the same time.

Barriers to action

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It may seem like people opposed to veganism or taking climate action are ideologically opposed to doing so, but among Gen Z that’s not the case. According to the study, the reasons respondents gave for not taking more action on environmental and animal issues were emotional and practical rather than ideological.

Among most frequently cited practical barriers were personal cost, inconvenience, and time constraints. Emotional barriers were mainly the feeling that action is pointless, being unmotivated, and feeling “drained.” The study authors highlight that this indicates fundamental shifts in values and beliefs may not therefore be necessary for change. Rather, practical solutions and understanding emotional barriers could be more effective to help people take action.

Respondents also identified a lack of public understanding of the issues as a major barrier. Correspondingly, they believe better public awareness and education campaigns as being a key solution to solve environmental and animal problems.

Regional differences

Respondents from Asian countries were much more likely than US respondents to say they felt they and their societies were taking adequate action to protect animals and the environment. More than a third felt their country was doing enough, and more than 80 percent felt they were personally doing enough.

In the US, less than half felt they were taking enough individual action, and only 14 percent believed the US as a whole was doing enough. US respondents were more likely than Asian respondents to blame corporate “villains” for harms to animals and the environment, such as “big oil companies” and “mega-farms.” Asian respondents, by contrast, felt individuals being ignorant or selfish was a bigger problem.

What advocates can do

The study makes several recommendations for people working in environmental and animal advocacy. One is to consider the emotional and practical ways to help young people engage more with the issues and solutions. Another is to work on connecting the plight of farmed animals with people’s existing concerns and motivations. For example, if people are more worried about environmental protection, highlighting the environmental impact of animal agriculture could be more motivating than animal welfare.

“Thankfully, our data found that most Gen Z-ers don’t have ideological barriers to protecting animals or the climate,” Jack Stennett, lead researcher, said in a statement. “To me, this indicates that advocates need to work hard on dismantling other barriers to activism, like removing a sense of futility and providing stronger financial and career incentives.”