News Releases

Survey: 73% of U.S. Teens Agree That Business Innovation will be Required to Slow or Stop Global Warming/Climate Change
Junior Achievement and CNBC to Host Virtual "Summit for a Sustainable Tomorrow" for Teens on October 14 to Discuss Business Innovation and the Environment

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey of 1,006 teens conducted for Junior Achievement by the research company ENGINE Insights shows that most teens (73%) agree that business innovation will be required to slow or stop global warming and climate change. However, only a third (33%) believe it is businesses' responsibility compared to "all of us as individuals" (69%). A slight majority (52%) agree that businesses act more responsibly toward the environment today than they have in the past. The survey of 1,006 13- to 17-year-olds was conducted by ENGINE Insights from September 21 to 26, 2021.

Most teens (75%) believe global warming and climate change are happening as the result of human activity, while far fewer (10%) believe they are happening but not as the result of human activity. A small percentage (3%) say global warming and climate change aren't happening at all. A significant majority of teens (65%) agree that they are worried about the impact of global warming and climate change on their future quality of life.

"Our survey results show that today's young people have considerable concerns about the state of the environment and what the future holds, but they see business innovation playing a potentially positive role," said Jack E. Kosakowski, President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. "As part of our effort to educate students about how business can respond to societal needs through social enterprise, we are partnering with CNBC to give teens a forum to express their concerns and better understand how companies can help address these issues."

In response to these concerns, Junior Achievement and Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow., CNBC's financial wellness and education initiative in partnership with Acorns, will host a "Summit for a More Sustainable Tomorrow" on October 14 at 1 pm ET.

Hosted by CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson, this unique interactive event will give teens across America direct access to some of the country's most knowledgeable experts on sustainable growth. The panelists will offer simple, straightforward answers to help participants understand how business innovation can play a role in promoting economic growth while preserving the environment.

"Climate change is an increasingly important topic around the globe and is top of mind for many in the business community," said Mary Duffy, Vice President and Senior Executive Producer for Talent Development at CNBC. "We look forward to joining forces with Junior Achievement once again to offer summit attendees a constructive conversation focused on environmental issues and provide information on how we can all do our part to help future generations thrive."

Panelists include:

  • Carolyn Aronson, Founder, CEO and Owner of It's A 10 Haircare and Be A 10 Cosmetics
  • Sarah Bloom Raskin, Former Deputy Treasury Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Avi Garbow, Environmental Advocate, Patagonia
  • Tom Soto, Founder and Managing Partner, Diverse Communities Impact Fund
  • Jack Kosakowski, President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA

Students, parents, and teachers interested in participating in the virtual summit can learn more and register at www.CNBC.com/Sustainability.

Methodology
This Youth CARAVAN survey was conducted by ENGINE INSIGHTS among a sample of 1,006 13-17 year olds. This survey was live on September 21-26, 2021.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls.  All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. It is nationally representative with set quotas based on census data. The 1,006 completes are all who qualified and completed based on the demographic quota requirements. The MoE is +/- 3.1%.

About Junior Achievement USA® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches more than 2.5 million students per year in 104 markets across the United States, with an additional 5.2 million students served by operations in 100 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information.

About CNBC:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by more than 557 million people per month across all platforms. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

CNBC also offers content through its vast portfolio of digital products such as: CNBC.com, which provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience; CNBC Make It, a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/.

Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc.  For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.

SOURCE Junior Achievement USA

For further information: Ed Grocholski, Junior Achievement USA, (719) 540-6165, ed.grocholski@ja.org