In recent years, the proportion of seniors in the population of the Nordic countries has been increasing, along with rising average age and relatively low birth rate. People of retirement age tend to have more free time and are better off financially than younger people, and, in addition, older people are now generally in better health than their peers were a few decades ago. These people also have a lot of experience and knowledge that can undoubtedly be useful in the climate debate. The active participation of older people in activities of this kind serves to enrich their own lives and, at the same time, improve the living conditions of future generations. This experience and knowledge are resources that societies miss out on by not utilising.
Iceland holds the chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers 2023, and on that occasion, the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Climate, in co-operation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour Market, initiated a Nordic project with the main goal of mapping and strengthening the work of older people in the Nordic countries in the field of climate issues. The idea was based on the knowledge that groups of seniors in Sweden had been active in this field and the belief that this activity could be further promoted by connecting more groups in all the Nordic countries, including Iceland. Environice consulting in Iceland was contracted to co-ordinate the project.
The project
The project in question is the first Nordic project in this field. The objectives can be summarised as follows:
Map existing activities and networks in each country.
Offer a Nordic platform for the exchange of ideas and inspiration.
Explore how Nordic co-operation can be strengthened and maintained.
Give recommendations to the Nordic governments on why and how they should support groups of older people who engage in climate issues.
Contribute to longer lasting physical and psychological health.
The project started in March 2023 and consisted of three phases or work packages. The first phase was the mapping phase, where climate related groups and activities of seniors in each of the Nordic countries were identified. A preliminary report with these findings was published as a working paper in the beginning of July. In short, it showed that groups of older people, focusing on climate issues, are already active in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Many of these emphasise the role of grandparents towards their grandchildren, as reflected in the names of some of groups. One group in each country is active within the recent and growing network of European Grandparents for Climate.
The workshop
The second phase was a workshop on seniors and climate issues, held in Reykjavík 27–28 September 2023. All identified groups from phase 1 were invited to present their work during the workshop and to participate in panels and group discussions. The workshop was also open for everybody, free of charge. Most of the groups accepted the invitation and sent their representatives, either to participate in person or online. However, due to the location of the workshop, a few potential participants were unable to participate in person, as Iceland cannot easily be visited without travelling by flight with substantial GHG-emissions.
In total, the workshop attracted 41 participants, apart from those participating online. The president of Iceland, Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, honoured the event by giving a speech at the opening of the workshop. After that, the agenda consisted of several keynotes, panel discussions and group work. At the end of the workshop, participants were invited to a bus trip to the most geologically active Reykjanes peninsula.
Seniors from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and The Faroe Islands attended the workshop, in addition to a keynote speaker from the Swiss group Klimaseniorinnen, who have taken their government to the European Court of Human Rights for failing to fulfil its positive obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, since the state is not doing everything in its power to prevent a global temperature rise of more than 1.5°C and thereby also failing to effectively protect elderly women in Switzerland.
Notably, workshop participants from Iceland and The Faroe Islands, where no climate-related groups of older people have yet been established, showed a lot of interest in the work already taken place in the other four countries. After the seminar, informal meetings have been held to prepare a possible establishment of such groups in both countries.
It was clear from the workshop, that participation in climate-related activities has given an added meaning to the daily life of many elderly individuals, as it makes sense to them to fight for the world to be a better place for their grandchildren and for coming generations in general, not least when they can use their education for that purpose. The older people are inspired by the younger generations’ climate struggle. Several of the participants believed that it is important to be visible in protests, but also to work behind the scenes in collaboration with politicians to change laws and regulations. In the end, the participants agreed that there is a good basis for a Nordic network for older climate activists.
The findings
The third phase of the project included compiling a report with basic information, a summary from the seminar, and recommendations to the authorities in the Nordic countries about what they could do to support the work of seniors in the field of climate issues. That report is presented here.
The main messages from the project can be summarised as follows:
The number of older people in the Nordics is growing. As of writing, approximately 15–23% of the population is over 65 years old, and a large generation is now approaching retirement age. This generation is likely to change what retirement looks like. The life expectancy of these groups is greater than that of previous generations, their level of education is higher, and their health is presumably better than that of many previous generations. These groups’ needs for activity and successful aging will be different than before and the ability to use new technologies in communication will be much more important than it has been. In addition to this, people at this age tend to have more free time and are better off financially than younger people.
Older people’s voluntary work on climate issues is beneficial for themselves, because it has the potential to keep them active and, thus, improve their physical and mental health. This will, presumably, entail lower health care costs.
Older people’s voluntary work on climate issues is beneficial for national authorities, as this group is a valuable source of knowledge and experiences, that governments can gain from in their climate-related policy development and decision-making. This resource can even be translated into monetary terms, as knowledge, in general terms, is neither unlimited nor free of charge.
Older people’s voluntary work on climate issues is beneficial for the climate, as it is likely to contribute to lower GHG-emission and less need for adaptive actions in the years to come. Better climate is, in fact, a synonym for better living conditions for future generations. This contribution is likely to lower climate-related public expenditure in the near future.
The points above are the main reasons why the governments should support older people’s voluntary work on climate issues.