The number of younger voters who list climate change as an election priority has halved since the last Federal Election, new data shows.
Polling conducted by Resolve for TDA found 9% of 18 to 34-year-olds ranked climate as their top election concern in 2025 — down from 16% in 2022.
The cost-of-living crisis is being blamed for a shift in voters’ priorities.
So, in the lead up to the 3 May election, can young voters afford to care about climate change?
2022 election
The 2022 election (branded the ‘climate election’) saw unprecedented support for the Greens and climate-conscious independents.
Ahead of polling day, the Coalition Government faced criticism over its climate policies, along with then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires.
Labor successfully campaigned on a promise to legislate net zero emissions by 2050, where the amount of carbon released and taken out of the atmosphere is balanced.
2025 poll
TDA commissioned Resolve Polling to survey young Australians, aged 18 to 34-years-old, heading into an election.
The data shows climate change is the single most pressing area of concern among 9% of respondents.
Despite this, 43% of respondents still listed climate as one of their areas of concerns (in a seperate question where they could choose from several responses.)
Overall, climate ranked ninth behind issues including housing, healthcare and wages. Swipe for more.
Cost & sustainability
The survey also examined young people’s sustainability spending decisions — finding 62% would not spend more on an eco-friendly product if a cheaper ‘less green’ alternative was available.
“It’s very hard for people to buy a more expensive, environmentally friendly product if they can’t afford it,” Resolve founder Jim Reed told TDA.
However, 27% of respondents said they would spend more to prioritise environmentally conscious purchasing, while 11% were unsure.
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Reed said young people’s priorities are linked to immediate cost of living concerns like grocery prices, energy bills, and “simply affording the rent”.
“ The environment's taken a little bit of a backseat compared to... more immediate [cost] of living concerns,” he added.
However, Reed said young people still want climate action, with 58% of 18-34-year-olds listing climate change as a “serious and urgent problem requiring sacrifice,” — compared to 41% of respondents over 35.
Response
Youth climate advocate Anjali Sharma launched a campaign to legislate a climate duty of care — which would require the government to consider young people’s health and wellbeing when making climate-related decisions.
Sharma told TDA young people are hit “first and hardest” in a cost of living crisis, and she attributes recent climate disengagement to a “feeling of overwhelm” amongst young voters.
Sharma said young people are being confronted with multiple crises at once: climate change, cost of living, housing, and global wars.
In 2019, Sharma helped organise the national ‘School Strikes 4 Climate’ protests. The marches saw tens of thousands of Australian students skip class to call for climate action.
Since then, Sharma says a lot of younger activists have been left “disappointed” with a perceived lack of political action on climate change, leading them to switch off.
“I have a lot of friends from that time in 2019 when we organised school strikes together who are no longer doing anything remotely political because of that reason.”
Future concerns
Greenpeace Australia said it’s been a challenge to engage the next generation of climate advocates since the pandemic.
The environmental organisation’s head of advocacy, Dr Susie Byers, said young people who were “starting out at university or adult life” during COVID-19, “didn’t have the same opportunities to get out there on the streets”.
“It takes a while for people to rebuild that habit and that muscle of coming together.”
A recent report from the Australia Institute found climate change is escalating cost of living pressures.
Extreme weather events, like floods, storms and wildfires, have driven up insurance, food, and energy costs globally.
For example, the institute’s report notes the price of olive oil has skyrocketed in tandem with droughts in Spain (where it’s largely produced) over the past two years.
“Consumers will bear the burden” of inaction on climate change, the report concludes.
