Generation Carbon is Connected, but Disengaged and Disillusioned

“Generation Carbon” was introduced on the project page:

This demographic has been alive since the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change began with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. This is the important demographic who have a growing awareness of the environmental issues that they have inherited;  and the fact that they will have to deal with them as adults. They will thus have a strong impact on environmental decision-making; first by their parents and second as they become adults. Understanding how this demographic thinks and behaves is of great interest to companies and policy makers.

And also in the essay Introducing “Generation Carbon” v4.

A new study by the Green Alliance and Hermes Fund Managers has found that:

the common assumption that Generation Y will seize the initiative to address sustainability threats was not borne out in the attitudes we found in our focus groups. Many were skeptical about financial approaches focusing on investment opportunities in the low-carbon economy. There are signs that this cohort may actually feel less agency and empowerment to influence their environment than previous generations.

Based on the polled attitudes of “Generation Carbon”, the future is bleak; because they have given up already.

Please download and complete the survey here to see if this conclusion is confirmed.

Generation Carbon

http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog2.php/2014/02/04/generation-carbon

In relation to the common issue of the Environment, the Generation Carbon demographic is defined by the fact that it is composed of those born when or some-time just after the Kyoto Protocol was first introduced in 1997. Generation Carbon will inherit both the legacy of the Debt Crisis and Global Warming.

I am a member of Generation Carbon.  I want to share my perspectives of what is our challenge.

The unsustainable economic growth of the late twentieth century, magnified by the Debt Crisis, has been associated with the production of the Greenhouse Gasses which have caused Global Warming. What was termed as a debt bubble can also be seen as a Greenhouse Gas bubble. Generation Carbon’s challenge is to stop the bubble from bursting disastrously, whilst deflating it over time. Sustaining economic growth, whilst mitigating the negative externality of global warming, is a delicate balance. It’s a lot to learn, there is no A-level on saving the world.

A big thank you to John Lounsbury, the Managing Editor of Global Economic Intersection, for publishing my essay.

You can also read the full essay here  Introducing “Generation Carbon” v4.