In My Feelings About Climate Change: In Conversation

In collaboration with SustyVibes
Featuring Clover Hogan, Elizabeth Wathuti and Britt Wray, PhD, in conversation with Jennifer Uchendu

How do we normalise spaces for conversations about climate emotions?

Climate change is triggering and amplifying mental health problems in people all over the world. Children and young people, in particular, are disproportionately affected. With daily saturation of media and scientific reports on human-induced climate change becoming the norm, grim images and predictions of an uninhabitable planet have taken centre stage.

Eco-anxiety has been referred to as chronic fear of ecological doom, encompassing feelings of guilt, anxiety and overwhelm about the state of the planet. Eco-anxiety is also a perfectly normal response; the realities and complexities of a changing climate are understandably difficult to grapple with. 

So how do we equip children and young people who experience eco-anxiety with the tools and support they urgently need to guide them through these psychological responses, and empower them in their climate action?

SustyVibes founder Jennifer Uchendu was joined by young climate activists Clover Hogan, Elizabeth Wathuti and researcher Britt Wray, PhD, to share their own experiences and address how to navigate eco-anxiety in children and young people. This panel discussion was part one of our two-part collaboration with SustyVibes. Find out about part two  – In My Feelings About Climate Change: An Intimate Workshop on Climate Grief, facilitated by pleasure activist Ama Josephine Budge.

You can watch a recording of the full panel discussion below.

PARTNERS

SustyVibes is a youth-led organisation based in Nigeria that provides a platform for young people to drive sustainable development projects in their communities, making sustainability actionable and relatable for children and young people.

HOST

Jennifer Uchendu is a sustainability communicator, analyst and founder of SustyVibes – a social enterprise making sustainability actionable for young people in Nigeria. Jennifer’s interests lie between the intersects of youth, women and climate action. Recently, she focused her research on intersectional eco-anxiety in youth climate activists.

PARTICIPANTS

Clover Hogan is a 21-year-old climate activist, researcher on eco-anxiety, and the Founder and Executive Director of Force of Nature. Force of Nature is a youth non-profit mobilising mindsets for climate action. Through virtual programmes, they empower young people in 50+ countries to cultivate mindsets of agency, purpose and resilience; and work with decision-makers across business, policy and civil society to drive intergenerational solutions.

Elizabeth Wathuti is a passionate environmentalist and climate activist from Kenya and the founder of Green Generation Initiative and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Community development. She is currently the Head of Campaigns and Daima Coalition for green spaces protection Coordinator at Wangari Maathai Foundation. 

Britt Wray, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Human and Planetary Health at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Britt is also the creator of Gen Dread, a weekly newsletter about “staying sane in the climate crisis,” and author of Generation Dread Knopf 2022 – a forthcoming book about the mental health impacts of the climate crisis. Find out more about Britt’s work here.

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