Millennials & Gen Z Lead Climate Action

This influential Gen Z lawyer and activist has fresh ideas on how to convince corporations to correct their destructive behavior.

As Millennials and Gen Zs increase their business, political, and cultural influence, they’re calling out a broken system, demanding an urgent reckoning, bold leadership, and a radically better future.

At the Sustainability Symposium 2023: The Great Conversion, Gen Z influencer Cheyenne Hunt offered a cross-generational view on how the undaunted optimism of younger generations is transforming the current national dialog and yielding a total reimagination of our culture. 

Gen Z Faces Its Future

A lawyer and champion of progressive activism, Hunt is not afraid to point the finger at corporations and shady business practices. She pushes for transparency and accountability from large corporations to reduce the impact of climate change and foster long-term environmental protection for future generations.

“Gen Z faces the impending doom of climate disaster. Most of our generation will inherit no land, no wealth, and no opportunity. We are forced to create our own opportunities while making personal sacrifices for the good of all,” Hunt iterates.

As part of the first generation that knows they will see life-altering effects from climate change, Hunt and her peers are redefining the narrative and turning talk into action. “Our route forward as young activists is continuing to recognize that this is a climate crisis, and not a political discussion,” presses Hunt.

Enough Talk

“Many older generations were not born with climate change as an active part of their reality,” Hunt asserts. “It was simply part of their discourse, another topic to be debated rather than understood. Gen Z is not waiting to debate the realities of the dying Earth they are inheriting.”

She points out how the largest 100 companies account for around 60% of global emissions from 1990-2015. She calls for activism from the younger generations, to push organizations to rapidly find alternatives to exploitative business practices.

As digital natives, never having known a world without the internet, Gen Z adults can apply their skills to debunk disinformation. “The way we have been able to organize on social media and inform folks as a result has been profound,” Hunt says.

“You can't move anything forward or have an accurate conversation about any issue without thinking about environmental sustainability,” Hunt acknowledges

To learn more from Hunt on the transformation and reprioritization of our systems driven by the younger generations, watch her recorded session. Learn more about Green Builder Media’s Sustainability Symposium.