The Let’s Talk About It campaign is now live! In response to an influx of young people reaching out to ACE for mental health support and the compelling research emerging on the impacts of climate change on the mental health of youth, ACE has launched this campaign to amplify the stories, struggles, resilience, and lived experience of young people to help destigmatize discussions around mental health and build greater resilience in the movement. The fear of the climate crisis worsening and seemingly powerlessness to enact change is causing young people to feel isolated and hopeless – emotions that aren’t discussed enough in the broader climate movement. 

With the climate emergency threatening mental health along with the health of the planet, ACE is setting out to normalize conversations about climate anxiety and create a community of support for struggling young people. #Let’sTalkAboutIt and speak #OurClimateTruth together. 

Young people everywhere have inherited a climate crisis that alters their day-to-day lives and threatens their plans for the future. The youth climate movement has started a resounding demand for climate action, but it has often fallen on deaf ears. Young people are expressing feelings of anxiety, helplessness, powerlessness, distress, and anger about the climate emergency in large numbers. These negative feelings can be labeled as climate anxiety, eco-grief, or eco-anxiety. 

10,000 children and young people aged 16-25 were surveyed about their thoughts and feelings about climate change in ten countries. Climate anxiety was rampant in this demographic with 59 percent of respondents being very or extremely worried about climate change and more than 75 percent thinking the future is frightening. Some young people are foregoing milestones and major life decisions that are expected from older generations: buying a home, having a family, retirement plans; because they fear the inaction on climate will rob them of a future. This anxiety is only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2021 report describes the link between anxiety, grief, and trauma to the effects of climate change. Natural disasters, flooding, and fires – all things exacerbated by climate change – leave their victims with mental health issues such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and more. According to the IPCC report, 20-30 percent of people who live through a hurricane develop depression or PTSD. These extreme events are only expected to worsen, and with them, so will young people’s mental health. 

ACE is inviting young people to speak their #CLIMATETRUTH. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 18-25-year-olds are more concerned about climate change than any other group. Gen Zers are focusing on careers that align with their social justice values and take action on the climate emergency.  ACE recognizes that young people need a space to decompress and share their feelings now more than ever. Your climate truth will be uplifted and centered in the movement and help shift the paradigm to destigmatize vulnerability, climate anxiety, and trauma. 

ACE has a robust coalition of partners eager to grow this campaign. We’d like to thank the following partners for their support:

• Our Climate
• Climate Psychology Alliance of North America
• Climate Mental Health Network
• Florida Student Power Network
• The Wild Center
• Fridays for Future U.S.
• Power Shift Network
• Climate Generation

Want to become a coalition partner? Join here!