Being a youth climate activist is an emotional existence. While it can frequently feel inspiring to be fighting for our future, it can also be incredibly exhausting, demoralizing, and frustrating. Almost all of us who have been in climate spaces know people who have left climate work due to burn-out, leaving our movement even more vulnerable to the attacks it faces on a daily basis.
But burnout doesn’t feel the same to everyone. The emotional burdens associated with climate activism, much like the physical effects of climate change itself, are not felt equally. Youth, marginalized, and frontline communities are often at the heart of this work, but also the least resourced to emotionally process it. For many, especially in vulnerable communities, mental health support is simply out of reach. The physical inequities of climate change quickly catch up to the emotional when we recognize that many climate activists are struggling to do such vital, lifesaving work because they simply have no way to address the emotional toll associated with their dedication.
Often, when people begin to struggle with their mental health, they turn inwards. It becomes harder to see the support systems around you and more difficult to maintain the relationships that have previously kept you afloat. I experienced this myself, very early on in my life as a climate activist, and I thought that I was alone in my anxiety, fear, and disillusionment of the future. Then I found the Climate of Emotions (COE) program through Six Seconds.
COE was different from anything I’d experienced. Through storytelling, we devoted space to what people were feeling, whether it be grief, anger, numbness, or hope. Through creative expression, we co-created music to build connection beyond words. And through guided reflection, we identified inner strengths we can tap into to keep going when we feel our lowest.
By the end of my first COE event, I felt like something inside me had settled. I wasn’t just intellectually processing the climate crisis anymore, but I was living it in community, with language and validation for the emotions that had previously overwhelmed me. I felt grounded in a new community that made my climate work feel less daunting and isolating.
Within a justice-driven movement like this one, all emotions should become a vital part of the experience. Grief, anger, powerlessness are essential for individuals to recognize and feel outwardly in order to also create space for feelings like hope and joy. We shouldn't value certain climate emotions over others or encourage one way of thinking, but rather we should give people the tools to draw deeper meaning from their climate emotions and guide those feelings towards purpose in their activism.
Climate change is a stressful thing to care about. It is a stressful thing to experience. And, it is especially stressful to fight for when it feels like the world isn’t listening. But when we sense that it’s starting to be too much, or that we must give up to preserve our mental capacity, I urge us to reframe. In those moments we must pause, slow down, and learn to build ourselves back up. Building resilience skills is the key to sustaining emotional equilibrium. We can learn to be well-rounded climate activists and connect with each other as a global community that is committed to fighting for a future that is livable, and hopefully, if we come together, one that is joyful too.
Hava Chishti is currently an MA student in Climate and Society and the Columbia Climate School. Her studies focus on climate mental health and psychology, journalism, and creative writing. Hava has worked with organizations such as Six Seconds and Ecospsychepedia to spread awareness about climate mental health and help those working in climate address their own complex emotions. Hava is a member of the Climate Mental Health Network 2025 Gen-Z Cohort. She was the Co-Director of the Sunrise Movement at The Claremont Colleges and completed a thesis on Grief and Climate Change.
Stay tuned for more stories from the environmental justice movement throughout the week. Check out our Environmental Justice program page for more information and resources.