Eco-anxiety: less doom mongering, more solutions please

Prince William has decided he can no longer stay silent on the issue of climate change. Speaking on the BBC’s Newscast podcast, the Duke of Cambridge expressed his concern about the rise in climate anxiety in young people. The Prince told presenter Andrew Fleming it would be an “absolute disaster” if Prince George – his eldest son – was left having to discuss the issue in 30 years when he fears it would be too late to act.

Is he right? Well, his concerns about the future of our climate do indeed appear to be impacting the mental health of the next generation. ‘Eco-anxiety’ or chronic fear of environmental doom, is having a disproportionate effect on the young. According to a 2020 survey published in the British Medical Journal, 57 percent of children are distressed about the state of the environment. 

Rather than just lazily blame this on young and naive ‘woke’ students who lack the mental fortitude of their second world war forebears, we should take the claim seriously. After all, mental illness is a serious psychological issue and one that merits close inspection. As adults, we should try and look at this from a child’s perspective and see what they see.

It doesn’t help when they switch on the TV and are assailed with news of the latest climate crisis. While they get ready for school they can sit and watch Good Morning Britain – where the weather forecast appears less like a daily forecast and more like a climate lecture. Or in the evening when the family are gathered round the dinner table, the parents could be watching Sky New’s Daily Climate Show – where to emphasise the effects of climate change they recently showed a C.G.I image of Buckingham Palace surrounded by water. A ludicrous and dramatic image when you consider the palace is 17 metres above sea level. It would mean the sea level would have to rise by 20 metres! The worst case scenario (based on high carbon emissions) predicts a 77cm rise above the 95-2014 average by 2100. Well within the range of ‘adaptation’ – more on that later. 

Or perhaps your child could be taken in by Roger Hallam. The former Extinction Rebellion leader once claimed “billions” will die if we don’t act now. With unscientific and baseless statements like this, is it any wonder children are terrified?

Prince William is not the first royal to speak out about the environment. His father, the Prince of Wales, is no stranger when it comes to making apocalyptic and ridiculous environmental statements. Back In 2008, Charles told us we had “just 18 months to stop climate change.” While just last week, he expressed his sympathy for the aims (if not the methods) of Insulate Britain. Telling the BBC that “young people concerned about climate change [are seeing their] future being totally destroyed.”

While manmade climate change is real, it will certainly not “totally destroy” the future of Prince George’s generation. Just one year before Charles made those hyperbolic remarks, southern England experienced severe flooding. The natural response by the government was to attribute this to climate change. A simple and lazy response as it drew attention away from the failure to maintain flood defences. Don’t take my word for it, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology released a report that denied climate change was responsible.

While sea-levels will rise, they will be well within the limit where their effects can be mitigated – as long as we invest in technology. 

When it comes to flooding, the best advice comes from Emma Howard Boyd – head of the Environment Agency. She believes there’s been too much emphasis on trying to stop climate change and not enough on preparing for its effects. Bangladesh’s Cyclone Preparedness Programme and the Netherlands Delta Works storm barrier are successful examples of a policy known as ‘adaptation’.

Due to human ingenuity and innovation, adaptation has helped play a part in the decline in deaths from climate change. Since 1920 and in spite of a four fold increase in population, the average annual death-toll from extreme weather events has declined by 93 percent  Based on 2001-2010 data, these weather events were responsible for just 0.07 percent of all global deaths (38,300 vs. 59 million globally). While in 2019, that number reduced by two thirds yet again to just 11,000  Still a high number but can we admit this is in some respects progress? At least compared with the ‘billions’ as claimed by Hallam.

Dramatic language combined with misleading information on climate change will inevitably contribute to this – as yet undiagnosable – condition. William is right to mention the rise in eco-anxiety, but as part of an influential institution, with alarmism like this both he and his family could ironically and unwittingly be contributing to its rise.