As both emissions of greenhouse gases and the impacts of climate change continue to rise, so do concerns about the ramifications on mental health. “Climate anxiety” – sometimes called eco-anxiety, eco-grief or climate doom – is receiving growing attention among researchers and professionals in mental health and public health fields. The phenomenon, defined by the American Psychological Assocation as a “chronic fear of environmental doom”, is emerging as a source of mental stress and anguish worldwide.
Google trends show that search queries on climate anxiety have skyrocketed.
Concerns are particularly pronounced about the impacts of climate change on the mental health of young people, who represent the generation that will have to deal with the damage that lies ahead. Many young people are worried and angry about the lack of action at levels needed to halt global temperature rise, environmental degredation, and biodiversity loss. Research in The Lancet Planetary Health, for example, has shown that “the future is frightening” for 75% of children and young people (ages 16 to 25), and that mental health professionals need tools to help support people with climate anxiety.
At the same time, the concerns about the deteriorating climate and environment can have negative effects on the mental health of people of any age. For example, researchers and scientists working in climate change-related fields are beginning to acknowledge that they are experiencing a wide range of powerful emotions that stem from their own work, which paints an increasingly dire picture of what the future holds unless profound changes occur. This has been the subject of a commentary in The Lancet Planetary Health and illustrated in an SEI photo story.
Against this backdrop, weADAPT has created a climate anxiety toolbox, a collection of links to resources – all free – that seek to help with these issues. The contents toolbox includes ways to find articles, courses, and online forums that give people opportunities to discuss their feelings on concerns about climate change and the environment.
The toolkit contains dozens of links that connect to a wide variety of resources. Examples include:
The idea behind this toolbox is to help people feel hopeful in the face of climate uncertainty, and empower them to turn panic into action.
Matilda Noble, the University of Oxford student who assembled the climate anxiety toolbox
By assembling a wide menu of available materials, weADAPT is seeking to make it easier for young people – and people of any generation, for that matter – to find resources that can give them greater wherewithal to face impending threats and take actions. Indeed, research in the journal Current Psychology suggests that taking collective action – rather than individual action – can help ease the anxiety that young people are experiencing.
As part of the effort to make sure that the selections in the toolbox resonated with younger generations, SEI specifically sought to have a Gen Z representative put it together. The toolbox is the product of work undertaken by Matilda Noble, a University of Oxford student, during her internship at SEI the Oxford Centre.
“Climate anxiety is felt by so many young people worldwide, and it can be really paralysing if you don’t know what to do about it,” she said. “The idea behind this toolbox is to help people feel hopeful in the face of climate uncertainty, and empower them to turn panic into action.”
Alice Chautard, the platform and content manager of weADAPT, SEI’s pioneering climate change adaptation online platform and network, said that creating the climate anxiety toolkit is part of ongoing efforts to reach out and help young generations.
This year weADAPT set up a new theme on Youth and Intergenerational Climate Justice, which includes the toolbox.
“We will continue to expand the content featured in the toolkit and on wider issues featured in the new theme to offer insights on the issues affecting young people,” she said. “These issues are sure to receive more and more attention in research and practice.”
These efforts are part of a wider effort of SEI to bring more discussion of intergenerational climate justice into related global conversations and policy-making. For example, SEI recruited young researchers to publish “Charting a youth vision for a just and sustainable future“, to mark the 50th anniversary (in 2022) of the Stockholm Declaration, the first world conference to make the environment a global issue. And, to mark the the 20th anniversary (also in 2022) of the founding of SEI in Oxford, the Centre hosted an intergenerational chat around the “electronic fireside” on related issues. It was an exchange of ideas between researchers who have been working on climate change-related issues for many years, and young people who have have been active in research and in championing both social justice and greater inclusion of youth in climate change-related decision-making globally.
Tool / weADAPT is SEI's pioneering, user-led platform and network for climate change adaptation.
Feature / weADAPT - SEI's pioneering, collaborative platform on climate change adaptation - has a new theme focused on youth and intergenerational justice.
Feature / SEI Senior Research Fellow Neal Haddaway created a photographic exploration of climate emotions among environmental researchers and communicators.
Journal article / How does doing climate research affect the emotions of scientists? This article measures their personal responses to the climate crisis.
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