You Are Not Alone

When involved in any social justice or policy change work, it is crucial that we look after ourselves and one another, and find community in our shared feelings and experiences. As far as climate change and our government’s failure to address it goes, climate anxiety is a very real emotion felt by people, especially young people, from around the world. According to research published in 2021, when surveyed, children and teens from countries across the world reported being worried about our current climate crisis, with about 60% of them reporting that they were “very” or “extremely” worried (Hickman, 2021). The data also reflected the varying severity of climate change by region - young people from areas or populations more affected by climate change, such as the Philippines, reported higher levels of worry and daily impact on their lives than their peers (Hickman, 2021). It is important to keep in mind that while we are all affected by climate change, some of us have the privilege of ignoring it most of the time, but others of us have to see and experience the results of it every day due to factors like location, poverty, access to safe resources, environmental racism, and more. Those of us in places of privilege and power must bear the brunt of the responsibility when it comes to fighting climate change, namely people in the government or who have the power to write legislation, but also regular citizens who experience the privilege of not having to think about climate change on a day-to-day basis. Beyond experiencing climate anxiety, 75% stated that they were frightened about the future, about half of the people who had spoken to others about climate change and their concerns reported feeling ignored, and over half of the participants agreed with negative statements about the government’s climate change response (Hickman, 2021). Before any work can be done, we must come together in community - you are NOT alone in your thoughts and feelings about climate change, even though the government wants us to believe we are and feel too overwhelmed to take action or talk about it. Climate anxiety combined with our government’s focus on individual fault and action can negatively impact both daily life and mental health, so it is important that we come together, share our experiences, and find a way to focus on and fight the system rather than our own personal battles. 

References and Image Credit:

Hickman, C. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. Lancet Planet Health 2021, Vol 5, e863-e873.