A new study from Sacred Heart University and GreatBlue Research finds that while 69% of Gen Zers say they’re worried about climate change, confidence in taking action has dipped from 69% in 2025 to 61% this year. Just 21% of respondents say they feel hopeful, and more than half — 55.1% — report experiencing eco-anxiety.
The study surveyed 1,500 Americans between 15 and 29 and describes the pattern as a “generational crisis of confidence.” Young people aren’t abandoning their concerns about the environment — the worry is still widespread and crosses political lines more than researchers expected. But belief that individual action translates into anything real has eroded significantly.
Trust in institutions has fallen alongside it. Confidence in higher education dropped from 67% to 60% in a single year. Confidence in nonprofits fell from 66% to 57%. Government sits between 42% and 48%. Corporations and wealthy individuals don’t crack 40%. Family and friends are the most trusted voices Gen Z has.
That disengagement is showing up in behavior. More respondents favored low-barrier digital actions — online petitions, surveys — over protests or campaign involvement. Only 7% plan to run for office. About three in four said colleges should go beyond awareness and actively teach practical sustainability skills.
Motivations for civic engagement vary by political identity. Democrats are more likely to be driven by concern for future generations; Republicans more likely to cite religious or moral values.
For Christian environmentalists, the findings land with particular weight.
“Creation care is not secondary to the Gospel — it’s embedded in it,” said Dr. Sandra Richter, Old Testament scholar and author of Stewards of Eden. “We were placed in the garden to serve and protect it, not exploit it.”
Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, vice president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, has argued that the antidote to that kind of helplessness isn’t optimism — it’s orientation.
“Christians have a unique position in this crisis,” he said. “We don’t respond out of fear of the future, but out of faithfulness in the present.”
