How climate anxiety is affecting life decisions and what we can do about it

Venture Zero Environmental Sustainability Lead, Claire Thew, explains how eco-anxiety is directly influencing the decisions that young people are making in 2025 and how those suffering from anxious thoughts might alleviate their unease.

The effects of climate change on mental health aren’t always immediately visible in society. In fact, it’s often easy for people to be dismissive of the phenomenon – particularly in parts of the world where the changes to the climate are being felt less acutely.

But in 2025 there’s no doubt that eco-anxiety is a very real issue and the “chronic fear of environmental doom” as it is described by the American Psychological Association is affecting young people in a profound way. 

While older generations are certainly not immune to climate anxiety, it seems that the mental health of teenagers and young adults is being tested more than in other age groups. In fact, a recent World Economic Forum article identified that over a third of young people (39%) globally were becoming hesitant to have children due to concerns about the future of the climate. Similarly, research showed that 78% of under-12s in the UK worried about the issue of climate change 

Importantly, the term climate anxiety doesn’t refer to a mental illness or any clinical condition. Instead it is considered to be a natural response to a threat that many of us now have to face up to – a threat that can cause distress, anxiety, worry and even panic attacks. 

As many environmental experts have suggested, climate anxiety is not an unfounded concern – given that we have seen an 83% rise in events such as flooding, storms and heatwaves between 2000 and 2019 compared to the two previous decades. With climate disasters on the rise it’s critical that we equip ourselves as a society to become resilient to these challenges – as well as work on solutions that can help combat the emergency facing us. 

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Gaining agency rather than getting lost in hopelessness

An important tool in fighting the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is, of course, to take steps to gain agency and feel a sense of control. While that’s easier said than done in the case of a global issue like climate change, nevertheless it is important for under-25s to feel that they are being proactive in tackling the issue at hand and doing their bit to make the future a brighter one.

This begins with feeling heard. A 2024 paper in The Lancet that surveyed 16,000 young people found that nearly 58% of them felt ignored when they’d tried to hold conversations about the climate. Two-thirds of those consulted said they wanted their parents’ and grandparents’ generations to better understand their feelings. 

The next step after being encouraged to hold open conversations is to promote action – whether at home or in the workplace. As I discuss in my Eco-Anxiety Workshops, it’s important to turn anxiety into action. In these sessions I’ve seen first-hand how tools like personal “ta-da lists” (a positive review of steps taken already) and applying the 5 Ways to Wellbeing framework can help people engage with sustainability and social action effectively. 

For organisations in 2025 that take their environmental responsibility seriously, there is a role for businesses to facilitate positive action that both improves its sustainability and, by association, supports the health and wellbeing of its staff in the process.

Interested in finding out more about the link between mental health and the climate crisis, and how companies can get involved? Click here.

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