How do we turn climate anxiety into climate action?

Climate change raises worrying questions about our future. But are we worried enough to do something about it – or does climate anxiety tie our hands? Karen Thomas caught up with environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh

A study last year found that young people are most anxious about climate change – but also suggested that feeling worry and dread can prevent us acting to change things. The research raises important questions about the changes affecting all our lives, now and in future.

(Photo credit: Netflix - Jennifer Lawrence/ Leonardo di Caprio play scientists struggling to communicate risk in Netflix drama Don't Look Up)

Floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms and wildfires are already here – but when these events strike, do enough of us make the connection with climate change? Are enough of us worried enough to try to do something about it? How do we make people less anxious, more empowered to act? How do we connect with most people beyond the climate bubble?

Environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh studies how climate concerns shape our behaviour and choices, particularly in energy and transport. The Bath University professor is director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (Cast) and a member of the Climate-Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG).

Whitmarsh’s study was the first to look in detail at climate anxiety among UK adults. Her researchers talked to more than 1,300 people in 2020 and in 2022 to find out how widespread climate anxiety is, what drives it and how those feelings shape our behaviours and actions.

Last year, three-quarters said they worried about climate change but just 4.6 per cent felt climate anxiety. That compares with 4 per cent in 2020. Younger people and people with higher generalised anxiety were most likely to report climate anxiety.

The Environment asked Whitmore what the research is telling us.

How worried are we about climate change?

In 2021 a big, international study found high levels of climate anxiety – around 45 per cent – among 16-25-year-olds. That climate anxiety was quite strongly linked to perceived government inaction. It reflected young people’s frustration, feeling they have no power to do anything about climate change and that the people in power don’t do enough.

We adapted our study from a clinical measure of generalised anxiety. It used strongly worded statements to see whether worries about climate change impair people’s day-to-day functioning – I can’t concentrate, it keeps me up at night. That measure found low levels of climate anxiety among the UK population.

So could it be that we aren’t worried enough about climate change?

The short answer is probably yes. The scientific evidence is clear; we face an existential threat. It’s a natural and important reaction to worry about that. It’s whether that worry spills over, creating problematic impacts on daily life. People with higher climate anxiety seek out more information about climate change.

We absolutely need to communicate more about climate risks – but to frame that with solutions. When we tell people that climate risk is pretty bad, we need to pair it with messages about how we collectively – and you as an individual – can tackle it. Otherwise, people feel what’s the point; I can’t do anything.

We still have very limited evidence about how to tackle climate anxiety – it’s so new. The focus with generalised anxiety is to get people to address the thing they worry about, to feel they have some control. Better still – do that as part of a group. You then feel that collectively you have more impact. Taking action as a group gives you a sense of self-support.

The Netflix film Don’t Look Up explored public and media apathy…

We worked with Netflix to create a microsite with facts, figures and resources for what you can do about climate change – how to manage if you feel overwhelmed. The jury is out about whether most people who watched it connected Don’t Look Up to climate change – it was an allegory.

How do we strike the right balance – get people worried enough to act?

We know from health psychology that fear campaigns – scaring people to stop smoking, taking risks with sexual health – only work when paired with messages about what to do to mitigate those risks. Clear, solutions-focused messages give people the sense that they can do something. If you terrify people with fear messages, they tend to switch off, ignore them or become frozen with fear.

Our study also found that people who spend more time in nature tend to have higher levels of climate anxiety. We don’t quite understand the causality – it could be that people value nature more, having spent time in it. It could be that it’s those who value nature most who worry most about it.

Talking to other like-minded people who share your worries and concerns is really effective to reduce or manage anxiety.

How do we create climate messages to reach the widest possible audience?

By embedding those messages in the mainstream – to challenge norms about low-carbon behaviours. It’s about highlighting changes that are easy and beneficial. It could be a storyline in EastEnders about adopting an electric vehicle or walking to work that shows these changes being normal and easy and desirable.

During COP26, mainstream UK soaps all agreed to mention climate change. That fizzled out after COP. We need messages that are ongoing, not once a year. Ideally, we’d see characters who are aspirational give up red meat, or take up cycling or challenge norms about going crazy buying stuff at Christmas.

So instead of Bake Off doing a one-off vegetarian special – how exotic – show veggie and vegan food as the norm. That makes low-carbon choices normal. It asks, why wouldn’t you do this?

We’ve seen epic floods from Bangladesh to Nigeria. A heatwave last summer in Europe. Wildfires from Brazil to Siberia. Do people understand all this as climate, not weather?

Our study found that 85 per cent of people worry about climate change. Awareness has risen steeply since 2018, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the +1.5°C report that triggered the school strikes and Extinction Rebellion. Concern went up then, stayed high and went higher in the last couple of years.

We did not find that people who have been flooded are more likely to experience climate anxiety. That comes more through the media than through direct experience. That challenges the idea that you have to be a victim of climate change to care.

But there’s good evidence to link extreme events and mental-health impacts. Floods and storms that disrupt your life and damage your home can lead to PTSD, depression and anxiety – but not climate anxiety. People focus on the specific problem they have. People who’ve been flooded tend to focus on local causes – the blocked ditch, the drains, the local housing development.

People don’t think, as a primary cause; this is climate change. They think; this is a local flood, how do I fix my house? They don’t think; what can I do to tackle climate change. We see these as separate issues. But that’s also why we don’t see a strong relationship between flood experience and climate anxiety.

What does effective climate communication look like?

I guess it’s warnings that are both specific and solutions-focused. Last summer’s heatwave is a good example. That’s the first time we saw the mass media cover it as a risk.

There was an interesting shift from people eating icecreams on beaches to fires breaking out in London. Then temperatures hit 40°C and the media started to report how heat could be a risk, to highlight the problem and connect it to climate change. And that’s when people start to think that we have to do something about this.

We need more join-up – but we also want to encourage people to take very specific measures to adapt to the risks they face. The more specific the advice, the better.

Are other countries better at this than the UK?

Most climate-change information that reaches the public comes through mass media; newspapers, TV and social media. These do more than they used to – but it’s still hit-or-miss, connecting events to climate change.

The Yale Program on Climate-Change Communication works with TV meteorologists and weather broadcasters to mainstream that information. That’s been quite effective in raising public awareness. My team recently briefed ITV’s weather presenters – they are definitely trying to do more. Things are starting to change.

We talked about young people feeling anxious; can influencer culture promote planet-friendly choices and reduce eco-anxiety?

Celebrities and other influencers are really important; that’s also true for older adults. The people closest to us – friends, family, colleagues and neighbours – influence our behaviour. For information about science and climate change, people look to climate scientists, medical professionals and certain celebrities – everyone loves David Attenborough.

We have universally trusted communicators and we have divisive figures. Greta Thunberg is Marmite, but definitely inspires people in her age group. Peer influence is so important. If people around you make better choices, you’ll see that as normal. You’ll decide to do it too.

What else can your research tell us about better climate communications?

A big thing is identifying benefits from low-carbon behaviours. Yes, you might cut your emissions – but what will drive you is saving money, or becoming healthier – finding that choice convenient or good for your kids. These are much more persuasive arguments.

When you talk to people, you need to know what matters most to that audience. That is likely to vary. But for a lot of people right now it’s about saving money. That creates a huge window of opportunity to talk to people about energy efficiency – if they can afford it, to insulate their homes or switch to solar panels or an electric car.

But we do know from previous energy and financial crises is that people cut back for a bit. As soon as things return to normal, they slip back into pre-crisis habits. So now’s the time to implement structural changes – insulating your home endures beyond today’s crisis.

Sadly government hasn’t grabbed the opportunity to do it. But there are so many co-benefits to climate action that it’s quite easy to make those arguments. It’s about showing these are doable and desirable. And that people like us are doing it.