Research and resources, shaped by those doing the work

Youth non-profit mobilising mindsets for climate action, helping young people turn climate/eco-anxiety into agency through workshops, 'climate cafes' and training pathways, and working with leaders across business, education and policy to drive intergenerational solutions.

As the climate crisis accelerates and disproportionately affects marginalised communities and countries in the global South, the need for power and social justice approaches is particularly important. Community psychology, with a long interest in the impacts of power discrepancies on the well-being of groups and communities, can offer theoretical and practical tools for addressing climate change and environmental problems without reproducing or intensifying existing inequalities and injustices. This special issue looks at communities' struggles for climate and environmental justice by focusing on how they resist, contest and overcome power inequalities. Most contributions come from high climate vulnerable countries and regions in the global South.

This study was conducted in the town of Galinhos, RN, Brazil, and aimed to analyze the opposition to the implementation of the Rei dos Ventos I wind farm in 2012, taking into account the meanings and attachment to place. Methodologically, an ethnographic approach was carried out, supported by historical-dialectic materialism, with records in diaries and field notes, in addition to 23 interviews with residents. The research found that the relationship with nature conforms a knowledge central to local life, and that the energy transition must come accompanied by a broader social shift.

This is the expanded, peer-reviewed academic version of the authors' Grantham Institute briefing paper, providing a comprehensive narrative review of the multiple pathways through which climate change interacts with mental health and wellbeing. Drawing on literature across relevant disciplines, the paper summarises converging global evidence on the mental health consequences of climate change and considers implications for clinical practice, research priorities and policy. As the fuller academic treatment alongside the more accessible briefing paper, it offers a detailed evidence base for readers wanting the full literature review underlying the policy recommendations.

Produced by Imperial College London's Grantham Institute and Institute of Global Health Innovation, this briefing paper sets out the current evidence on how climate change is affecting mental health and emotional wellbeing worldwide, distinguishing direct effects (such as those following extreme weather events) from indirect impacts on the social and economic factors that support wellbeing, including food security and housing quality. The paper proposes a detailed set of recommendations for policy makers, research institutions, mental health practitioners and health systems, calling for interdisciplinary research, recognition of the mental health co-benefits of climate action, and equitable access to protective factors such as nature and energy-efficient housing.

‘Deep adaptation’ refers to the personal and collective changes that might help us to prepare for – and live with – a climate-influenced breakdown or collapse of our societies. It is a framework for responding to the terrifying realization of increasing disruption by committing ourselves to reducing suffering while saving more of society and the natural world. Edited by the originator of the concept of deep adaptation, Jem Bendell, and a leading climate activist and strategist, Rupert Read, this book is the essential introduction to the concept, practice and emerging global movement of Deep Adaptation to climate chaos.

Free resources from Educational Psychologist and CPA member Dr Louise Edgington, supporting educators and parents in addressing climate anxiety and emotional wellbeing in education settings.

The feelings and hopes of young people around the world are often neglected in policymaking and research, with consequences for both their wellbeing and the effectiveness of humanity’s response to the climate crisis. Many of them are distressed by climate change’s impacts, the inaction of political and corporate leaders, the ways other people respond to their feelings, and the lack of support they have to share their feelings or get involved in meaningful climate-related work. This paper is written by a group of twenty-three concerned young people from fifteen countries. It provides a first-hand account of our deepest feelings, how these feelings affect our daily lives, the support we want to help us cope, and our hopes for a radically more compassionate future. The results are particularly relevant to policymakers, mental health professionals, journalists, educators, and people working with young people more widely.

This chapter explores how psychotherapists can support transformational systemic change in the face of the climate crisis, through understanding the connection between inner and outer (environmental) landscapes. It explores unconscious cognitive biases as invisible drivers of climate change, and describes reactivating dormant capacities such as creativity and intuition to help grow into full human capacities to address the existential nature of the crisis.