2023 was the hottest year on record, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), and 2024 could surpass this record. Glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, sea levels are rising, forests are burning, and the life cycles of flora and fauna are altered uncontrollably. “Mine could be one of the last generations that remembers things as they were,” Daniel James Jiron, 60, nostalgically expresses to La Vanguardia.

“I am retired, but I worked for years in forest management and was able to see the impacts of the climate crisis on forests and biodiversity.” Knowing that there are landscapes that he will never see again causes Jiron “a deep sense of mourning and sadness.” He believes the world should take much more abrupt action to address climate change. “There has been progress but not at the speed that is needed, although the technology and tools to make the change exist.” That arouses “great frustration” in him. What Daniel James Jiron feels can be defined as eco-anxiety. “It is definitely something that I have suffered from in my daily life for a long time.”

Ecoanxiety is a discomfort that is “normal and totally logical in the situation in which we live,” explains Teresa Franquesa Codinach, doctor in biological sciences and author of the book Climate change and anxiety, from concern to action (Oberon). It is not a disorder or a pathology, but rather “a set of difficult emotions that many people experience when we are aware of environmental problems, particularly the severity of climate change.” These emotions include sadness, fear, anger, frustration and guilt. “It can affect our general well-being, stress level, even our sleep or appetite.”

The discomfort awakens, as Codinach explains, as a kind of warning alarm in human beings. “It is a call that pushes us to action, to take precautions against environmental threats.” It affects people of all ages, although it is especially relevant for young people. “They are the ones who feel they have to face the consequences.” In Spain, according to a survey by ‘El Futuro es Clima’, 82% of people under 30 years of age suffer from ecoanxiety or have suffered from it at some point in their lives.

Lea Kundicevic, 28, cannot conceive a day without thinking about the environment. “Eco-anxiety is a part of me.” She strives to make each of her actions consistent with her beliefs and values. “I try to ensure that all the food I eat is fair trade and produced in Spain.” To do this, she makes purchases in three different markets. “All my clothes, except for underwear, are secondhand.”

Massive consumption generates “great impotence.” He prefers not to consume meat and before buying a product he makes sure that it is not tested on animals. In addition, she has been a volunteer in different associations, such as the Barcelona marine fauna recovery center (CRAM). “I was taking care of the first turtle nest that was placed in Barcelona after 120 years.” As Kundicevic explains, “being in contact with people who share her feelings” helps him control her anxiety.

“Forming communities and groups to talk about the issue is very important,” says Rachel Yates, a clinical psychologist with specialization in climate psychology and emotions linked to climate. She herself has suffered throughout her life from eco-anxiety. “I am concerned about the way we are destroying the planet and this has impacted my decisions in many aspects of my life, from my career to how I spend my free time.”

In Barcelona, ??it organizes meetings for parents concerned about the environment. She began managing “climate cafes” meetings, a space for people to discuss their emotional response to the crisis, and coordinates ‘Mother’s Rebellion’ circles, an international movement with a presence in more than 20 countries fighting for a sustainable future for the next generations.

“We want to focus on promoting concrete changes that impact the aspects that affect children and the future of our children,” explains Yates. “One of the campaigns we are currently considering participating in focuses on promoting the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.” This legislation already exists in Wales and last year it was replicated in the Balearic Islands. “It is based on the fact that future generations have rights, so policies should take them into account.”

The project, which arose from a popular initiative, has managed, for example, to stop a proposal to build a motorway in Wales in 2018. Since then, the country’s transport policy has changed and now prioritizes public transport and low-cost vehicles. emissions, instead of private cars.

Federica is the mother of a three-year-old child and attends one of the groups coordinated by Rachel Yates in Barcelona. She “helped me see that I am not alone, that there are other people who think the same and want to do something.” Ecoanxiety has been part of Federica for years and was even something that she took into account when deciding if she wanted to be a mother. “I was thinking, does it make sense to bring them into a world that won’t be like the one we live in? Are we going to leave them with a lot of problems?”

Today he strives to transmit responsibility to his son regarding the use of natural resources such as water, and observes how the school also teaches teaching to raise awareness about climate change from a very early age. “I believe that it does not have to be solely the responsibility of individuals or families, but of governments, that they put measures in place and make people pay more attention.”

“Loneliness is sometimes one of the aspects that most causes anxiety,” explains Dr. Teresa Franquesa Codinach. There are habits that can be modified at an individual level to reduce the carbon footprint, but facing eco-anxiety in community and looking for local help groups to join, according to the author, can be of great help not only for individual well-being, but for “ begin to make collective decisions that entail real changes” and be able to demand responses from those who have greater power to intervene.

“In the fight against climate change, governments and large companies are the ones who can move heavy weights, they have the capacity to take significant measures and their power to act is essential to address the global challenge.” However, it is not just about waiting for them to resolve the situation. “The future is made in the present and we have the ability to organize ourselves to think and seek answers together, it is something that gives us hope; and hope leads to action.”