Climate change is already affecting whole communities in Australia and globally, and it is clear it will worsen without immediate action. Whether it is in response to our clients’ distress, children’s worries or our own concerns about our planet’s future, there are many ways in which we, as psychologists, teachers and researchers, can make a difference. Indeed, the APS’s updated position paper on psychology and climate (bit.ly/2YmHLMW) outlines the many psychological factors associated with the global climate crisis, and the responsibility psychologists have to address the issue.
Climate-induced extreme weather events and disasters are already imposing a heavy toll on physical and mental health and wellbeing globally, while fear and worry about its future impacts are widespread, even among those who have not yet experienced these impacts directly. Failure to act with urgency and at scale threatens the wellbeing of millions and even the survival of human civilisation. All this makes the climate crisis an issue of high relevance to all of us in the discipline and practice of psychology. Psychology is central to effective action.
Many of the effects of climate change are now well known, but its impacts on peace, security and justice – each central to wellbeing – are often overlooked. In this article, we describe how the climate crisis threatens peace and security, and illustrate how it increases inequality and injustice. We also discuss the psychological factors underlying climate change and our responses to it, and highlight ways in which psychologists can engage with the issue.
Climate crisis, peace and security
A large body of research over the past decade shows that climate change increases risks of conflict and can amplify them (Mobjork, 2017), for example, through competition over increasingly scarce resources such as food, water, shelter and habitable land. Further, multiple studies outline that increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns are associated with increases in violence and conflict – between individuals, groups and nation states (Hsiang et al., 2013).
There are already millions of ‘climate refugees’, forced to seek a safe new home where they are often met with hostility and resistance. For example, the civil war in Syria was exacerbated by an unprecedented drought, and displaced about 5.6 million Syrians, one million of whom fled to Europe where their arrival contributed to the rise of racism and populism (Kelly et al., 2015; Fotiadis, 2016). Hundreds of millions of people are predicted to be displaced because of climate change by 2050 (World Bank, 2019). Hence, the UN Security Council calls climate change a ‘threat multiplier’ for conflicts within nations or groups, and between them (UN News, 2019).
Climate change impacts many aspects of human security, whether it be economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community or political in form (Mobjork, 2017). A current example is that climate change can increase the probability of pandemics such as COVID-19 which, in themselves, threaten human security (Armstrong et al., 2020). Three out of every four new human infectious diseases come from animals (wildlife or livestock) – these zoonotic diseases include HIV, Ebola, Zika, Hendra, SARS, MERS and bird flu, as well as COVID-19. Habitat loss, due in part to climate change, results in wildlife migrating to new places, interacting with new species and moving closer to human settlements, all of which increase the risk of new human diseases emerging.
Climate change impacts many aspects of human security, whether it be economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community or political in form
The climate crisis and justice
There are at least four ways in which climate change is related to inequality and injustice. First, today’s children and young people, who were not responsible for climate change, will bear its worst impacts. The World Health Organization predicts that children will bear more than 80 per cent of its impacts on physical health (McMichael et al., 2004; Sanson et al., 2018).
Second, although developing countries have contributed far less to climate change, they will suffer more than the high-emissions developed world. This disparity is due in part to their geography (e.g., many are at lower latitudes and will suffer more droughts and heatwaves, and many are at low altitudes and will suffer inundation and flooding from sea-level rise). In addition, the weaker infrastructure and resources of developing countries limit their capacity to prevent, adapt to and recover from climate impacts (UNICEF, 2015; Sanson & Burke, 2019).
Third, indigenous peoples often live in regions highly susceptible to climate impacts, such as the Arctic, the Amazon and desert regions. Particularly with their close connection to land, they suffer disproportionately as a result. Other vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those with disabilities are also impacted more by climate change (e.g., they are less able to escape impending disasters or regulate the temperature in their homes).
Finally, while a speedy transition to a net-zero emissions economy is needed to avoid climate catastrophe, ramifications of the transition need consideration. Importantly, people working in industries which need to be replaced (such as coal mines, gas and oil extraction, coal-fired power stations), or transformed (such as agricultural and forestry practices) need to be treated justly and actively supported in finding alternative work (bit.ly/2WOBmtM).
Psychological dimensions of the climate crisis
The climate crisis features a range of psychological dimensions that impact how we respond to it. Our responses to climate change are influenced by human beliefs, attitudes and behaviour, such as the belief that humans have a right to exploit the planet, including our extraction and use of fossil fuels, industrial-scale meat production and over-consumption.
Our failure to act in a timely and proportionate manner is in part grounded in beliefs, attitudes and feelings, including disbelieving or doubting climate science, focusing on short-term rather than long-term goals, regarding it as someone else’s problem and feeling powerless.
Knowledge about the threat that climate change poses for the future arouses deep feelings. Most people, including children and youth, are worried about how it will impact their lives. Many experience profound feelings of distress, grief and loss over its impact on nature and human lives, anger and frustration at the lack of action, and a sense of helplessness and hopelessness about our ability to restore a safe climate (Sanson, Burke & Van Hoorn, 2018; Strife, 2012).
The experience of climate-related extreme weather events (hurricanes, floods, fires) has mental health impacts including post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression (Clayton et al., 2017). As these events become more common and intense, the burden on mental health services will be substantial and potentially beyond their capacity to cope.
Finally, responding to the climate crisis demands rapid changes in our beliefs, attitudes and behaviour. This includes accepting our own responsibility to work to protect the planet, changing our lifestyles to reduce our ‘carbon footprints’, building the belief that people together can make change happen, recognising our interdependence with nature and taking active steps as citizens to push for action (APS, 2017).
Using psychological knowledge to address the climate crisis
Five broad areas where psychology can contribute are summarised here – but they are not exhaustive.
Building knowledge and understanding
We can use psychological knowledge about how to change beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to influence public support for action to tackle the climate crisis. We can also undertake research on the effectiveness of different messaging strategies in promoting behaviour change for different audiences and contexts (such as the idea that we are “all in this together” as global citizens).
Psychology professionals can support groups to design, implement and evaluate their social actions aimed at building the momentum for speedy climate action. Importantly, in all our teaching courses, we can also include coverage of the many psychological dimensions of climate change, and the implications for us as professionals invested in mental health and wellbeing.
Providing psychological support and moving to action
Psychology professionals can help others, and ourselves too as needed, to address understandable denial, anxieties, fears and anger around the climate crisis, so that as a local and global community we can face this shared existential challenge. Psychologists can play an important role in offering psychological therapeutic techniques to help people manage these negative emotions and channel them into effective action (bit.ly/3Fla5jZ).
This process may involve transforming relatively ineffective coping strategies, such as disengagement, avoidance, denial and emotional suppression, into effective coping strategies, which address emotions directly and foster active problem-focused responses (Ojala, 2012). Psychology professionals can also build a sense of collective efficacy by illustrating how people of many backgrounds are coming together to work for climate action and a just transition to a more sustainable world (Krampe, 2019).
We can also highlight the importance of engaging with and caring for nature, both for one’s own mental health and to build recognition of our interdependence with the natural world.
Psychologists can offer skills in community strengthening and conflict resolution to help build cooperative, collaborative ways of working together to motivate action on the climate crisis
Promoting just responses
Psychologists can highlight the mental health consequences of inequalities and injustices arising from the effects of climate change, such as impacts on indigenous peoples, those in the developing world (with 85 per cent of the world’s population) and children.
We can help build recognition of the tens of thousands of years of care that indigenous people have given to the land that is now under threat from climate change. We can acknowledge the particular vulnerabilities of indigenous people to climate impacts, and advocate for their important role in addressing climate change, thus helping to address inequalities and ensuring their rights.
We can use expertise in organisational and community psychology, and persuasion and decision-making processes, to work with policymakers and others to develop ways to ensure everyone is treated fairly as the economy transitions to net-zero carbon. We can also illustrate how a speedy and just transition can reduce inequality and so reduce conflicts.
Building and using conflict-resolution skills
The field of psychology has an important role in increasing knowledge and skills in conflict prevention and resolution (at individual, community and institutional levels) to apply in the context of the climate crisis. We can utilise these skills in helping communities to resolve conflicts caused by fear of change and by resource shortages, fairly and non-violently. We can also advocate for increased peace-building efforts to anticipate and address inter- and intra-state conflicts arising because of climate change.
Promoting community cohesion
Psychologists can offer skills in community strengthening and conflict resolution to help build cooperative, collaborative ways of working together, across many divides (age, class, ethnicity, religion), to motivate action on the climate crisis. Community psychology principles can assist the shift to a lower-carbon economy by sharing locally produced resources and changing lifestyles. Similarly, encouraging local production of food and renewable energy can create more cohesive, healthy communities.
As models ourselves and in our work with others, as psychology professionals we can engage with communities to enable members of those communities (including women and youth) to become agents of positive change (Macy & Johnson, 2012).
Final words
As described in the APS Position Paper on Psychology and Climate (bit.ly/2YmHLMW), we have the platform and “a social and moral responsibility to play an active and leading role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, to advocate strongly for speedy policy action, and to contribute expertise to relevant local, state, national and international dialogues” (p. 15). We can choose to become strong advocates of positive change and help secure a safe future for ourselves and future generations.
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