Climate News 25:27
Anxiety about the current and future impacts of climate change is known to be particularly prevalent amongst young people, and is often used as the basis for behaviour change interventions by local government practitioners.
However, a 2024 Australian study found that it’s not as simple as “eco-anxiety leads to climate action”. Rather, it depends upon the level of anxiety. Low levels of anxiety might, at first, appear to be a barrier to linking that feeling to action, but the study found that if the level of anxiety gets too high, that can cause individuals to feel overwhelmed and less likely to act. The content of engagement with people experiencing eco-anxiety is important. The study aligned with previous research which has found that images of the causes and immediate consequences of climate change (e.g. heatwaves, bushfire, flooding etc.) are less effective than images of climate mitigation and adaptation (e.g. participating in community energy or biodiversity maintenance). For practitioners, the key is engaging early and understanding what degree of anxiety you are dealing with and ensuring that your opportunities for engagement focus on practical actions that respond effectively to climate change. There’s an additional question, what happens when that initial anxiety is alleviated? How should programs be designed to ensure that if the motivations of individuals shift over time, they can still be satisfied and not relapse into inaction, starting the anxiety cycle all over again.
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