7. Climate Anxiety

It is very likely that legal professionals, law students and legal academics engaging with and working on climate change related issues will experience ‘climate anxiety’. It is vital to support the emotional wellbeing and psychological resilience of legal professionals, law students and law academics. Due to the time lag between the emission of GHGs into the atmosphere and the manifestation of climate change impacts, many of the negative impacts of climate change will primarily and disproportionately affect young people and unborn future generations. According to a global survey of 10,000 young people aged 18 to 25, young people understand climate change to be the most important issue facing the world.^[1] There is a growing body of evidence linking the pressing issue of climate change to feelings of anxiety, despair, powerlessness and anger in young people.^[2] A perceived lack of government action to adequately respond to the climate crisis is associated with increased distress.^[3] In this sense, the phenomenon of climate anxiety is often rooted in the realities of what it means to live in a climate-transformed world and in uncertainties about the future.

For law students who are learning about the role of law in regulating, redressing and even contributing to the climate crisis, this experience of climate anxiety may be particularly pronounced. On the one hand, to effectively respond to the crisis law students need to understand the challenges posed by climate change, as well as the systemic inequalities underpinning its causes and distributional impacts. However, it is equally important to equip students with the knowledge and skills to respond to climate crisis, and to work towards a more climate just future. Indeed, the first decades of the 21st century have seen a proliferation of youth-led climate activism, litigation, and political engagement, demonstrating that young people are not only affected by climate change but are also active agents of change. These youth-led movements and legal interventions can serve as a form of ‘disruptive dissent’^[4] through which young people seek to ‘transform norms, rules, regulations and institutions within existing political and economic structures’.^[5] Equally, these forums can empower young climate activists and amplify historically marginalised voices.^[6] Thus, when equipped with resources not only for understanding the law but also for managing climate emotions, law students have the potential to meaningfully contribute to sustainable climate action.

There is a growing body of resources for managing climate anxiety, many of which foreground the needs and interests of young people, educators, those working on issues related to climate change, and marginalised or otherwise groups that are in situations of particular vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.^[7]

See the further reading section for a list of these resources.