From eco-anxiety to climate action

Eco-anxiety is real, but so is the power of young people to turn that anxiety into action

For Natasha Abhayawickrama, a national climate justice campaigner with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), the seeds of climate activism were planted when she was just seven years old.  

“I remember hearing about global warming and thinking, ‘the world is going to heat up and humans won’t be able to live on earth anymore’. And no one was talking about it,” she said during the inspiring ‘Rise up’ session at the AdaptNSW 2024 Forum. 

This anxiety intensified when, at 15, Natasha experienced the devastating Black Summer bushfires, which brought the reality of climate change to her doorstep. 

Using this fear as fuel for change, Natasha joined the School Strike 4 Climate movement. From 2019 to 2022, Natasha helped mobilise tens of thousands of young Australians, organising national strikes that shifted public opinion and pressured governments to act.  

“I was starting to understand the power of young people. We’ve led campaigns that have taken billions of dollars out of the fossil fuel industry and so I do feel hopeful,” she said. 

 “Young people have moral authority when it comes to talking about the climate crisis.” 

Natasha Abhayawickrama, National Campaigner, Australian Youth Climate Coalition 

Rising to the climate challenge 

Across Australia, young people are transforming climate distress into decisive action. 

Kal Glanznig’s “awakening moment” was in a Year 10 science class, while watching An Inconvenient Truth. 

“I thought: ‘What can I do as a student? What can I do, as one single person?’”. As it turns out, the answer is ‘a lot’. 

Kal’s journey began with a practice step: raising $100,000 for rooftop solar panels at his high school. What started as a local project quickly grew, with Kal helping 20 other schools install solar systems and reinforcing the message that meaningful change is within the reach of every young person. 

From there, Kal founded Plastic Free Cronulla, a grassroots initiative that helped secure a state-wide ban on single-use plastics. He created Rising Up, a documentary that shares stories of young environmental leaders from around the world; he also represented Australia as a youth delegate at two United Nations Climate Change summits. Most recently, Kal launched Blue Minds, a not-for-profit addressing youth eco-anxiety through ocean action, engaging more than 3,000 students to date. 

“Hope lies in action,” he told the AdaptNSW 2024 Forum audience. 

For Kal, tackling eco-anxiety is more than sharing facts; it’s about empowering young people to take ownership of their future. “If we can mobilise Gen Z – four and a half million strong in Australia – we can really turn the tide on these issues,” he said. 

“We’re not trying to change the world but trying to change our own individual world.” 

Kal Glanznig, Youth Program Coordinator, Surfers for Climate 

Another young leader, Saoirse Chu, is also making waves in the climate movement. Raised in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Saoirse witnessed firsthand the devastating impacts of climate change on her community, following a succession of bushfires and floods. 

In 2020, Saoirse joined The Joyality Project’s youth leadership program, igniting her passion for environmental justice. Saoirse founded her high school’s first environmental club and launched the Be the Change Northern Rivers podcast to amplify youth voices on climate action.  

“Take young people seriously and take their ideas and concerns seriously,” Saoirse challenged the audience. Eco-anxiety is a “natural response” to climate change. “What young people really need is the support, the backing and the belief from the adults in their lives.” 

 The emotional toll of a warming world 

Young people – from children to young adults – are among the hardest hit by climate distress, according to Dr Cybele Dey. 

A child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and a lecturer in psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, Dr Dey is at the forefront of research on climate change’s impact on mental health. 

The mental health effects of climate change, particularly on younger generations, are an emerging field of study. “Awareness of climate change can trigger an enormous range of emotional responses, and the vast majority of these are healthy responses to an unhealthy environment,” Dr Dey explained. 

“In contrast to examples of healthy or adaptive distress, climate change is also driving increases in mental ill-health among children and young people including major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and heat-related suicidal behaviour presentations to emergency departments." 

“One of the main calls to action from the WHO [World Health Organisation] about climate change and mental health is for people to learn about it.” 

The impacts of climate change on mental health are multifaceted and interconnected, extending beyond direct effects like extreme weather, heat, pollution, biodiversity loss, and physical health issues such as asthma and infections. Indirect consequences, like food insecurity and displacement, complicate the picture.  

Beneath these physical and societal stresses lies a profound toll on children and young people – with serious mental ill-health such as severe anxiety disorders and trauma-related disorders disrupting lives and fostering feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration and hopelessness. To truly understand the complexity of these interconnected challenges, a “systems” approach is needed, one that incorporates Indigenous wisdom, Dr Dey emphasised. 

Arlene Gili Mehan, a Birpai and Dunghutti First Nations ecologist, proposes a “Country-led approach to climate distress” which sees “ecosystems not as resources to be extracted but as active partners in resilience”.  

In First Nations worldviews “Country is air, stars, trees, rivers, animals, soil, microbes, every ecological member and connection between kin that makes up the web of life”. Country is not a passive backdrop but a dynamic force with agency, regulating ecosystems and climate. “Country shows us how to adapt, thrive and find balance.” 

The power of perspective 

Dr. Eshana Bragg, an eco-psychologist and university lecturer with over 30 years of experience in the field and the session’s moderator, also underscored the importance of balance – and of blending “self-care and community care skills with practical action”. This balance can help young people navigate eco-anxiety and empower them to engage positively with environmental challenges, she observed. (Read more insights from Dr Bragg in AdaptNSW’s article, How on Earth.) 

“A lot of young people feel they don’t have agency or power to actually make a difference,” Natasha noted. “And that’s really normal – I was feeling the exact same way.” Her catalyst for change was attending a ‘climate conversations’ workshop which equipped young people with the tools to engage in meaningful discussions about climate change with older generations. It was “one small thing” that shifted Natasha’s perspective. “I was like, ‘wow’, it’s that easy.” 

Kal suggested young people cultivating practical skills to manage eco-anxiety, such as “everyday gratitude, breathing properly, just being present”. These daily practices not only nurture mental wellbeing but also contribute to building a sense of agency in the face of climate challenges.  

Check out more stories from the AdaptNSW Forum 2024.