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Climate anxiety and the IPCC report: Why we’re approaching this all wrong [1]
['More From Author', 'April', 'Benjamin Gerber']
Date: 2023-04-14
Is the recent United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report daunting? Absolutely. In fact, its release (and the news coverage that followed) more than likely caused a good number of us to feel climate anxiety, defined by Harvard Health Publishing as distress related to worries about the effects of climate change.
These overwhelming, anxiety-inducing reports tend to make people feel helpless instead of encouraging action, even when the report makes it clear that action is the only option.
Research also shows that this kind of news is, unsurprisingly, routinely tuned out. According to a study by Christine Exley, we go out of our way to avoid information that makes us feel bad, or information that shows us how our decisions affect others. Which raises the question: How do we get people — from CEOs to elected officials to our family members — to act on climate change, if they are constantly feeling anxious, helpless, or avoiding the topic altogether?
Exley’s research confirms that the way we communicate and provide information is critical. As a former lobbyist, attorney and business leader, that comes as no surprise to me.
It’s also the thing we’ve gotten the worst at.
In an increasingly divided world, we’ve forgotten how to talk to each other. We’ve spent less time understanding each other, and more time leading with fear and things that make others feel bad or tune out. But if we can speak from a place that acknowledges someone’s values and motivations — which are not always ones we share — we can empower each other to have hope and realize that curbing climate change is within our reach.
And it is doable. The most optimistic piece of the IPCC report was noting that we already have the tools and technology necessary to combat the worst impacts of climate change. If we can show others that these tools will benefit their businesses, their families, their lifestyles and humanity overall, we will see change. But we must talk about climate change and climate change solutions in a way that encourages people to act.
It’s time to move past the doom and gloom.
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https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/04/14/climate-anxiety-and-the-ipcc-report-why-were-approaching-this-all-wrong/
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