From TikTok to Policy Change: How Gen Z Is Disrupting Climate Action

When you hear about Gen Z and climate action, the usual story goes something like this: young people want a seat at the table. But what if we told you Gen Z isn’t just asking for a seat—we’re building our own tables, flipping the old ones, and inviting the world to do better?

This generation isn’t waiting for permission. We’re leveraging creativity, connectivity, and community to push forward climate solutions right now. From viral content to grassroots movements, Gen Z is showing the world that you don’t need to be in a boardroom to shape the future, you just need to get started.

Here are just some of the ways Gen Z is currently shaking up the climate space:

Social Media for Education

Out with bland PDFs and boring presentations, Gen Z is turning platforms like TikTok and Instagram into sustainability classrooms that are fun, fast, and informative.

Guila Tariello (@giulia.tariello) breaks down how young people can engage with the United Nations and make their voices heard in global policy spaces. Alaina Wood (@itsthegarbagequeen), a sustainability scientist, serves up a weekly dose of positive climate news and helps demystify complex climate science. Leah Thomas (@greengirlleah), founder of Intersectional Environmentalist, uses digital storytelling to highlight how climate justice and social justice are deeply connected.

Protest Movements

For over a decade now, Gen Z have been leading protest movements for climate action. An amazing example of this is Fridays for Future which began in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg (at the age of 15), started protesting outside the Swedish parliament to demand stronger action on climate change. The movement quickly grew, with students and others around the world joining Thunberg’s school strikes on Fridays. The movement has since become a global youth-led climate activist movement, organizing protests and strikes to push for climate action.

Green Startups & Non-Profit Organizations

From food to fashion, Gen Z is redefining what it means to live and act sustainably—one resale, reuse, and reinvention at a time. Vinted, an online second hand retailer present in Europe and North Americas is now the largest clothing retailer in France, proving just how mainstream secondhand fashion has become. Over one-third of its users in France are under 30, showing how Gen Z is leading the charge in normalising circular fashion and fighting fast fashion waste.

Misfits Market, founded by Abhi Ramesh at age 26, is transforming how we think about food waste. The company takes in imperfect or surplus organic produce and pantry staples that might otherwise go to waste and then delivers them to people across the U.S. This initiative supports farmers, reduces landfill waste, and contributes to a more circular, equitable food system.

Force of Nature, a non-profit founded and led by Gen Z, is on a mission to help young people transform climate anxiety into agency & action. With tools, training, and a global community, Force of Nature has delivered over 1,000 programs to young people in more than 50 countries.

Pushing Policy From the Ground Up

Not everyone gets to be in the negotiation room but Gen Z is finding ways to make policy work for people, not just politicians. Pacific Climate Warriors, led by Indigenous and Pacific youth, advocate for climate justice and reparations. They’ve helped push forward conversations around the Loss and Damage Fund at COP27 and COP28. Sunrise Movement (USA) – Gen Z-led organisers pushing bold policies like the Green New Deal. Their grassroots activism helped shape U.S. climate policy and proved that youth-powered movements can influence national politics.

Art, Culture & Storytelling as Tools for Change

Climate communication needs a rebrand and Gen Z is on it! Through music, poetry, and photography, we’re creating new narratives that resonate with hope, justice, and action. Ayisha Siddiqa, a poet and activist, blends performance and protest to call out environmental injustice. Her viral poem “So much about your sustainability, my people are dying” cut through climate jargon to deliver an unfiltered message about the climate crisis, justice and loss. Aditi Mayer uses photojournalism to spotlight the intersection of fashion, colonialism, and environmental racism—amplifying voices often left out of the climate conversation.

So, what can you do to become part of the disruption?

🌱 Share climate content that resonates! Use your platform, however small, to amplify solutions and spark discussion.

💬 Start conversations! Whether it’s at school, work, or home, push the climate chat beyond doom and into action.

🧑‍🌾 Get local! Join or start a project in your area and look into how you can get involved with youth-led organizations.

📢 Make your voice count! Respond to youth-led initiatives, sign petitions, write to your local politicians, or take part in student surveys and consultations.

💡 Create something! Art, a podcast, a film, an idea, never underestimate the power of storytelling and creativity to inspire change.

Author: Alysha Alva, Communications and Marketing Executive for The World’s Largest Lesson, Project Everyone