Questioning the Climate Change Age Gap

A widely held view in the media and among some researchers is that younger people are more worried about climate change and more willing to support the climate agenda than older generations. Such a “climate change age gap” is often explained by the longer time younger people expect to live under worsening climatic conditions. This paper develops a theoretical model that proposes an alternative explanation for the relationship between age and attitudes toward climate change. The empirical analysis is based on data from 38 countries in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East from the 2023 round of the Life in Transition Survey. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the respondents’ age and their concerns about climate change. Older people are more likely to object to higher taxes to finance public policies in general, including climate change policies, but even this result is sensitive to the framing of climate action questions.