4 minutes read
Climate change is reshaping lives across the globe, not only through physical impacts but also through profound mental health and well-being effects. From anxiety and post-traumatic stress to emotional distress and suicidality, individuals and communities are grappling with escalating challenges. While much of the research to date has focused on individual responses, less is known about collective resilience, particularly in rural communities and many areas of the Global South, where climate impacts compound existing disadvantages. Understanding the dynamics of both individual impacts and collective responses is critical, especially as disturbance and displacement due to climate-related disasters rises. Research from the Sydney Environment Institute (SEI) on how collective community responses to climate change can enhance resilience, create a sense of belonging, and help individuals navigate feelings of despair and grief, outlines the broad range of mental health impacts of climate change.
Collective action as a path to climate resilience
SEI’s recent study explored the experience of climate anxiety among rural Australians exposed to drought, fires, and flooding. The focus was on the perception of resilience-building efforts in these tight-knit but vulnerable communities. Engagement with a range of community organisations and service providers revealed that, rather than a focus on individual clinical approaches to anxiety, it was collective action that was seen as most crucial in easing climate anxiety and improving well-being.
Through online workshops, participants identified three key forms of community action that support resilience:
- the provision of general community-led support;
- community-focused climate action, including inclusive and democratic resilience and adaptation planning, and;
- collective politically-focused climate action.
These approaches not only build social infrastructure and strengthen social cohesion, but also help communities prepare for and respond to specific climate impacts. When communities engage in adaptation planning and climate action collectively, they build informal networks of support that can reduce isolation and build long-term resilience.
The study illustrates that the design of strategies to mitigate the mental health and well-being risks from climate change may benefit from a move beyond an individual health focus to a community-led and implemented range of collective actions that builds community and social infrastructure. In this way, democracy itself becomes an antidote to climate anxiety, reinforcing the idea that shared action can generate hope, agency, and resilience in the face of an escalating crisis.
The potential of nature-based solutions to improve mental health
According to the World Meteorological Organization, Asia remained the world’s most disaster-affected region in 2023 due to weather, climate, and water-related hazards. Heatwaves are increasing, disrupting industries and agriculture; intensifying storms and floods are displacing communities, destroying homes and livelihoods, and increasing vulnerability across the region.
The Philippines, which experiences an average of 20 typhoons annually, is at the forefront of this crisis. Despite its long history of managing typhoons, the eastern city of Tacloban was unprepared for the unprecedented force of Super Typhoon Haiyan. In 2013, Haiyan struck with winds of 315 kph, devastating lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems. In its aftermath, the government ramped up investments in coastal protection infrastructure – mainly concrete seawalls – to guard against future extreme storms.
Recognising the limitations of such traditional ‘grey’ buffer infrastructure, communities in Tacloban have also taken action. SEI researchers studied how local groups are restoring mangrove forests, such as Paraiso Mangrove Ecopark, as a form of nature-based protection against storm surges and coastal flooding. These efforts highlight how community-led nature-based solutions can build human capital, reduce disaster risk, and provide long-term environmental benefits beyond flood protection alone. As with the previous study, this work illustrates how community-led design can create a range of benefits.
For example, not only do nature-based solutions act as a natural defence against climate disasters and an opportunity for communities to collectively build both physical and mental resilience, but research shows that greater exposure to nature improves mental and physical well-being. Professor Thomas Astell-Burt from the University of Sydney found that adults living in neighbourhoods with at least 30% tree canopy coverage had 31% lower odds of experiencing psychological distress. In another study, he revealed that individuals feeling socially lonely can increase their odds of finding relief within 4 months by 69%, and by 110% at 16 months, from spending just 1-2 hours per week in nature.
The concept of ‘nature prescriptions’ is gaining popularity in Asian countries like South Korea and Japan, where health and social professionals encourage patients to spend more time in nature, an approach proven to reduce cardiometabolic and mental health risks. These findings highlight the social co-benefits of nature-based solutions, not only in reducing climate risks but also in strengthening community well-being.
Call to action
SEI sees the potential for effective, efficient investment in such infrastructure to address not only collective climate anxiety, but climate resilience and community well-being more generally. We call for potential partners and funders willing to support and implement this research, to help build an ongoing, resilient ability for communities to address the current and coming turbulence of climate change.
