Publications
Partners
- People under 25 from around the world say they're hesitant about having children because they're worried about the impact of a changing climate on their future.
- The climate crisis is bad for people's mental health: it's making them sad, anxious and angry.
- The health-related consequences of the climate crisis, particularly those relating to mental health, are being taken increasingly seriously at this year's conference of the parties, COP28.
- For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.
Almost four out of 10 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 told researchers in a Lancet Planetary Health study 2021 that they feel "hesitant to have children" because of climate change — 75% said they found the future frightening.
This sense of foreboding and futility about the future is called eco-anxiety, which is fuelled to a large degree by worry about the world's changing climate — and the sense that there's not enough being done about it.
"It is psychologically devastating to feel climate and ecological catastrophe closing in every day while watching those in power not only failing to act, but actively making things worse by expanding the fossil fuel industry," explains the National Air and Space Agency climate scientist, Peter Kalmus in a Guardian op-ed.
More than 80% of young people who participated in the Lancet study said that they think humans have failed to take care of the planet. It makes them angry and disillusioned with their governments, they said, and the feeling of betrayal by decision-makers is driving even more anxiety.
READ | COP28: 'They're negotiating with our health'
The health-related consequences of the climate crisis, particularly those relating to mental health, are taken increasingly seriously at this year's conference of the parties, COP28, where influential politicians, scientists, policymakers and business leaders are taking stock of the world’s progress with climate goals in Dubai.
Countries are, for instance, asked to sign a declaration on climate and health and a $300-million commitment (about R5.5-billion) by the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria, $100-million (close to R1.9-billion) by the Rockefeller Foundation and £54-million (about R1.26-billion) by the United Kingdom government have been announced to specifically deal with the health-related repercussions of climate change.
Sixty-five health ministers are attending the international meeting.
The general goals that countries have to meet relate to some of the 17 sustainable development goals, to have all people live in peace and prosper by 2030, which the United Nations adopted in 2015.
One of these goals, although they're not legally binding, focuses on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its effects by cutting down on the amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane put into the air.
This means generating electricity from solar energy or wind instead of burning coal and gas, relying less on petrol and diesel to fuel vehicles, burning less waste, and farming crops and livestock in a more sustainable way.
But a June progress report showed that countries, including South Africa, are cutting down their carbon emissions too slowly. If we don't step up, a "climate cataclysm [is] looming", experts say, because we won’t be able to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C.
South Africa's youth delegation to COP28 has issued a statement urging decision-makers to provide "mental health support for those grappling with the trauma as a result of environmental devastation caused by climate change".
READ | 2023 to be hottest year on record after 'extraordinary' November
Research shows that standing up and making their voices heard as part of a group, can help young people to deal with the negative emotions, anxiety and worry they feel about the state of the environment and buffer them against developing serious depression.
The South African climate justice activist, Kumi Naidoo, agrees. "Participation is the best antidote I know for addressing the sense of anxiety," he told Mia Malan in an interview for Bhekisisa’s monthly TV show Health Beat.
Naidoo is a former executive director of Greenpeace International.
Watch the full interview.
