Climate action and emotion
The role of emotions in climate action has been the subject of a number of studies. Stanley et al. (2021) focussed on eco-anxiety, eco-depression, and eco-anger, and how they affect the well-being of the individuals who experience them and their engagement with climate change solutions. The authors found that those “who felt more intense anger about climate change were more likely to take part in climate protests and switch to climate-friendly behaviours” and that they reported less stress, depression and anxiety.
A later publication
was more specifically concerned with anger, one of the more motivating emotions
(Stanley et al. 2024). This study identified thirteen kinds of climate anger in
Australian subjects, which were related to different targets. These targets ranged
from inaction and lack of concern by leaders and other actors (the most common
form) through climate denial and the slowness of climate action to the unfairness
of expecting individual action in the face of corporate or national inaction. Anger
directed at different targets appeared to result in different levels of action.
“People who were angry about inaction and apathy reported more environmental
behaviours such as reducing their meat consumption, or joining climate marches”
but anger over a sense of powerlessness was not correlated with taking climate
change action. Interestingly, anger at the apathy of others might be unfounded,
since almost half of the people studied in Australia claimed to be angry about
climate change. A related study found that “80–90% of Americans underestimate
the prevalence of support for major climate change mitigation policies and
climate concern.” While 66–80% of Americans support these policies, they nevertheless
estimate the prevalence of support by others to only lie between 37–43%
(Sparkman, G., Geiger, N., and Weber, E., 2022).
Constructive
anger in climate action is explored by Grau, 2025. She suggests that it can
help to move through “apathy, fear, and depression”, lead to collective climate
action and generate “resistant, active, constructive forms of hope”. Anger is a
key emotion in the pursuit of justice, and can be an important indicator of
injustice. Climate injustice is seen as involving “the concentration of power
to disenfranchise those with less power and privilege, and the plunder of the
common good.” Climate-related anger may be expressed by seeking structural
change “through strategic, collective action” and can strengthen communities. Violence
is mentioned by Grau, but mainly in reference to climate change itself, which
is described as a form of “structural violence” caused by human beings. Collective
action in response to climate change is described as “generally peaceful and
nonviolent”. Grau does not enlarge on the topic of aggression and violence by
climate activists.
The results
of the first large scale survey of climate anxiety in children and young people
globally were published by Hickman et al., (2021). A thousand subjects were
interviewed in each of ten countries, Australia, Brazil, Finland, France,
India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and the USA, and their thoughts
and feelings about climate change and government responses to climate change
were collected. 59% of respondents across all countries were very or extremely
worried about climate change, and over 50% reported feeling “sad, anxious,
angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty.” 75% thought that “the future is
frightening” and 83% that “people have failed to take care of the planet”.
Respondents were more likely to feel betrayed than reassured by governmental
responses to climate change. The authors believed that climate change and
government inaction could have “considerable, long-lasting, and incremental
negative implications for the mental health of children and young people” and
that the “failure of governments to adequately address climate change and the
impact on younger generations potentially constitutes moral injury.” They noted
the attempts of children to take legal action “based on government failure to
protect ecosystems, young citizens, and their futures”. The paper was recently
cited in an article published by Yale Climate Connections (Yale, 2025). The
emphasis here was on preparing young people “not just intellectually, but
emotionally and practically for the world they’re inheriting.” Measures which
might help preparation included involving children in the design and creation
of green community spaces; introducing them to practical, nature-based strategies for cooling the
planet; and promoting youth-led climate action initiatives such as tree
planting programs.
Evidence for
the effects of climate change on mental health was discussed by Cunsolo et al.,
(2020) in a paper which offered proposals for remedial action and commented on
the place of grief and anxiety in addressing climate change. Along with the degrading
of ecosystems and livelihoods caused by climate change, its effects on mental
health include “post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, the
exacerbation of psychotic symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide
completion.” Ecological anxiety and ecological grief are also increasing. Anxiety
here arises from threats to ecosystems, and grief from actual physical loss,
loss of knowledge, and anticipated loss. Professionals who work in climate
science “often experience burnout, anxiety, grief, and depression” and some choose
to leave the area of research.
An “urgent
response is needed from clinicians, public health practitioners, families,
researchers, educators, and policy makers” and six lines of action are
proposed. Health professionals need training on climate change and mental
health. Clinical assessments and support may be needed for some people
suffering from ecological grief and anxiety. Individual and group therapy
strategies should be used. Efforts towards solutions such as prescribing activities
that support and enhance environmental, physical, and mental health should be
increased. There should be a focus on a “healthy family-oriented response to a
shared external threat”. A health equity approach to resources and response is needed
since “evidence indicates that often those who experience the most acute forms
of ecological grief and anxiety are also often those with less access to mental
health resources”
Nevertheless
a degree of anxiety and grief regarding climate change is natural, and may be
constructive: “it is possible that feelings of ecological anxiety and grief,
although uncomfortable, are in fact the crucible through which humanity must
pass to harness the energy and conviction that are needed for the lifesaving
changes now required.”
References
Cunsolo, A.,
et al., 2020, Ecological grief and anxiety: the start of a healthy response to
climate change? The Lancet Planetary
Health, online, accessed 25 January 2025,
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30144-3/
Grau, M.,
2025, Beyond “Hope”: Constructive Anger as a Force in Sustained Climate Action.
Pastoral Psychology, online, accessed
23 January 2025
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11089-024-01196-x
Hickman, C.,
et al., 2021, Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs
about government responses to climate change: a global survey, The Lancet
Planetary Health, online, accessed 24 January 2025,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519621002783
Sparkman,
G., Geiger, N., and Weber, E., 2022, Americans experience a false social
reality by underestimating popular climate policy support by nearly half,
Nature Communications, online, accessed 22 January 2025
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32412-y
Stanley, S.,
et al. 2021, From anger to action: Differential impacts of eco-anxiety,
eco-depression, and eco-anger on climate action and wellbeing, The Journal of Climate Change and Health,
online, accessed 22 January 2025
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278221000018?via%3Dihub
Stanley, S.,
et al., 2024, Climate anger can lead to action, The Conversation, online, accessed 22 January 2025
Yale, 2025,
Young people are suffering from climate anxiety. Here’s how to help. Yale Climate Connections, online,
accessed 22 January 2025
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