What is climate anxiety?
Climate change has long been associated with negative implications for mental health and wellbeing. Direct exposure to extreme weather events is linked to elevated anxiety, depression, substance use, and suicidal ideation (Hayes et al., 2018). Fluctuating temperatures have been associated with increased anger, stress, and fatigue (Chen et al., 2019), and growing evidence suggests that air pollution may negatively affect attention, working memory, and executive functioning (Bromley & Ellis, 2025).
Although it may feel like a long time ago now, it might be worth thinking back to the heatwaves in the summer term, which has been described as the hottest on record (Met Office, 2026). For many people, children included, these heatwaves brought the climate emergency to the forefront. Uncomfortable classroom temperatures, lack of access to playgrounds due to heat, and in some cases school closures, gave many young people their first lived experience of the impact of climate change on day-to-day life.
Because of this increase in exposure, more attention is being given to the concept of climate anxiety. Although definitions vary across academic disciplines, climate anxiety is broadly understood as “distress, worry, or fear relating to environmental change and its potential consequences” (Pihkala, 2020). Importantly, a growing body of research suggests that children and young people are experiencing climate anxiety even when they have not directly encountered the effects of extreme weather events, but instead due to exposure to media coverage about topics such as rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, and environmental disasters (Shao & Yu, 2023).
Supporting children and young people experiencing climate anxiety
Anxiety about the future of our planet is not something experienced exclusively by children and young people. Many adults share similar concerns, and our own emotional responses can influence how we engage in conversations about climate change.
When discussing climate anxiety with children, it can be easy to feel that we must provide answers to difficult questions or reassurance that everything will be okay. Whilst understandable, this can sometimes shift our attention away from understanding the child's experience and towards managing our own discomfort. Like young people, adults are also influenced by the information they consume, and exposure to highly negative or overly optimistic climate narratives can make it harder to hold a balanced perspective.
Whilst individual support and intervention can play an important role, climate anxiety may not always be best understood solely as an individual problem. If we focus only on managing the feelings associated with such worries, we risk inadvertently encouraging them to tolerate what they perceive to be intolerable. Equally, anxiety that becomes overwhelming can contribute to withdrawal, distress, and feelings of powerlessness.
A helpful framework to anchor this to may be the safe uncertainty model (Mason, 1993), which outlines a desired mindset where professionals: “Resist premature closure, embrace ambivalence and discomfort, centre relational trust and reflection, and balance professional boundaries with curiosity” (Setty, 2026). Reaching this mindset requires us to hold both realities in mind; that concerns about climate change are understandable, and that young people still need support to engage with those concerns in ways that promote wellbeing and agency.
What does the child or young person understand about climate change? What are they worried about specifically? What information are they being exposed to, and how are they making sense of it? Exploring these questions creates opportunities to validate emotional responses whilst also identifying thinking patterns that may be intensifying distress, such as ‘catastrophising’ (e.g., “We are doomed so what’s the point?”) or excessive engagement with negative media coverage. Reflective and relational conversations that acknowledge uncertainty, whilst recognising the significant efforts already taking place to address climate change, can help develop a more balanced and manageable understanding of the challenges ahead.
Ongoing professional development around climate science and evidence-informed climate solutions may help adults feel more comfortable with ‘safe uncertainty’, supporting more informed and constructive conversations with children and young people. There are many free resources online for adults and schools, and one specific website that may be helpful is: https://www.climatemajorityproject.com/climate-courage-2026
So, what now? Towards collective action
If climate anxiety can be understood as a response to perceived threat and uncertainty, an important question follows: what do we do with those feelings?
Much of the discussion around climate anxiety has focused on reducing distress. Whilst this is understandable, there is growing recognition that climate anxiety is not inherently pathological (Whitmarsh et al., 2022). In many respects, concern about climate change may be a logical response to the information that children and young people are receiving about the state of the world. The challenge, therefore, may not be simply how to eliminate climate anxiety, but how to support young people to engage with these concerns in ways that promote wellbeing and hope, whilst also being mindful of the potential negative effects.
In this sense, there may be value in seeing ourselves as advocates, not for a particular political position, but for children's ability to participate meaningfully in shaping their futures. Growing research indicates that some levels of climate anxiety could be an adaptive, motivating response to climate change that encourages action (Verplanken et al., 2020). Importantly though, this motivation often requires an awareness of what that action might look like. Whilst individual actions can be meaningful, children and young people are often more likely to develop a sense of hope and agency when they can contribute alongside others towards shared goals.
This awareness can be built at various levels, such as:
Individual conversations:
- Adults having a better awareness of the science and evidence around climate change, to feel more confident in discussing concerns and signposting children and young people.
- Encouraging reflection about what actions they can take individually and collectively (e.g., helping out with recycling at home, discussing sustainability as a family, participating in school eco-groups, community environmental projects, or local campaigns that aim to create wider change).
Whole-school approaches:
- Pairing existing lessons on climate change with creative and participatory activities across the school, such as calculating the school's carbon footprint, 'craftivism', climate experiments, eco-councils, community partnerships, and pupil-led sustainability projects. The following link contains some ideas about classroom and whole-school approaches: https://thegaiaproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/English-50-Climate-Actions-Companion-Guide-3.pdf
To conclude, children and young people will (and in some cases already have) inherit the consequences of today’s decisions, and it is our responsibility to ensure they also inherit the belief that they can shape what comes next. By creating space for honest conversations, empathising with their feelings, and helping them identify meaningful opportunities for action, we can help shift anxiety and uncertainty about their future into a belief that they can make a difference.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Further reading
https://www.climatedpsych.com/resources
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/blog/how-to-cope-with-climate-anxiety/
https://www.climatemajorityproject.com/climate-courage-2026
https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/resources/climate-change-resources
Reference list
Bromley, F., & Ellis, N. (2025). The potential impact of traffic-related air pollution on children’s cognitive development; implications for educational psychologists. Educational Psychology in Practice, 42(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2025.2545855
Chen, N.-T., Lin, P.-H., & Leon, G. Y.-L. (2019). Long-term exposure to high temperature associated with the incidence of major depressive disorder. Science of The Total Environment, 659, 1016–1020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.434
Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S., & Reifels, L. (2018). Climate change and mental health: Risks, impacts and priority actions. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-018-0210-6
Lei, S., & Yu, G. (2023). Media coverage of climate change, eco-anxiety and pro-environmental behavior: Experimental evidence and the resilience paradox. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 91, 102130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102130
Mason, B. (1993). Towards positions of safe uncertainty. Human Systems, 4(3–4), 189–200. https://sfwork.com/resources/interaction/04Mason.pdf
Met Office. (2026). Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK. Met Office. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2026/summer-2026-provisionally-hottest-on-record-for-the-uk
Pihkala, P. (2020). Anxiety and the ecological crisis: An analysis of eco-anxiety and climate anxiety. Sustainability, 12(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197836
Setty, E., & Hunt, J. (2026). Rethinking scenarios through safe uncertainty | reimagining RSE. Re-Imagining-Rse.Org. https://re-imagining-rse.org/blog/rethinking-scenarios-through-safe-uncertainty/
Verplanken, B., Marks, E., & Dobromir, A. I. (2020). On the nature of eco-anxiety: How constructive or unconstructive is habitual worry about global warming? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72(101528), 101528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101528
Whitmarsh, L., Player, L., Jiongco, A., James, M., Williams, M., Marks, E., & Kennedy-Williams, P. (2022). Climate anxiety: What predicts it and how is it related to climate action? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 83(101866), 101866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101866
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