Addressing climate anxiety among young people in the Philippines
Authors: John Jamir Benzon R Aruta, Patricia D Simon
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2022)

The climate crisis poses a serious threat to people's lives, with children and youth at high risk for mental health consequences.1Burke SE Sanson AV Van Hoorn J The psychological effects of climate change on children.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2018; 20: 35Crossref PubMed Scopus (72) Google Scholar This is especially true among youth populations in climate-vulnerable countries such as the Philippines.2Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar The Philippines is repeatedly included in the German Watch Global Climate Risk Index and Global Peace Index as one of the countries that will be most affected by the extreme consequences of climate change.3Kreft S Epstein D Global climate risk index 2014. Who suffers most from extreme weather events? Weather-related loss events in 2012 and 1993 to 2012.https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/publication/8551.pdfDate: 2014Date accessed: December 18, 2021Google Scholar, 4Institute for Economics and PeaceGlobal Peace Index.https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GPI-2019web.pdfDate: 2019Date accessed: January 10, 2022Google Scholar At least 20 typhoons occur annually in the Philippines, some of which are categorised as super typhoons, which cause hundreds of deaths and damage thousands of homes and livelihoods. For example, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded to make landfall, struck the Philippines in 2013. The typhoon caused at least 6300 casualties, the relocation of around 4 million people, and destroyed at least a million houses in the country.5Kure S Jibiki Y Quimpo M Manalo UN Ono Y Mano A Evaluation of the characteristics of human loss and building damage and reasons for the magnification of damage due to Typhoon Haiyan.Coast Eng J. 2016; 581640008Crossref Scopus (10) Google Scholar Emerging evidence from global surveys among children and adolescents in ten countries showed that extreme climate anxiety (ie, psychological distress associated with climate change and ecological crises) was the highest in the Philippines. We propose an agenda for research on climate anxiety in Filipino youth and inclusion of mental health into climate change education in school systems and universal health-care systems. First, validation of climate anxiety and ecoanxiety measures developed in western, educated, industrialised, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) countries among children and adolescents from non-WEIRD countries is recommended. Evidence on Filipino youth show that climate anxiety is associated with mental health outcomes.6Reyes MES Carmen BPB Luminarias MEP Mangulabnan SANB Ogunbode CA An investigation into the relationship between climate change anxiety and mental health among Gen Z Filipinos.Curr Psychol. 2021; (published online July 15.)https://doi.org/10.1007/S12144-021-02099-3Crossref PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar There is value in investigating the positive and negative mental health correlates of climate anxiety in children and adolescents across diverse cultures. Furthermore, longitudinal studies that examine the developmental trajectory of climate anxiety from childhood to adolescence can aid and inform the design of developmentally-appropriate interventions. Interventions might capitalise on the adaptive function of climate anxiety by encouraging sustainable behaviour among youth populations, with the aim of curtailing the negative impact of climate anxiety on youth mental health. Since there is evidence for hope-related strategies being employed by youth populations to cope with climate worry,7Ojala M Regulating worry, promoting hope: how do children, adolescents, and young adults cope with climate change?.Int J Environ Sci. 2012; 7: 537-561Google Scholar hope-based psychoeducational interventions that aim to empower future leaders show great promise. Second, the Philippine educational curricula should incorporate mental health, specifically climate anxiety, into the climate change education agenda since this has been generally neglected. The Climate Change Act (Republic Act 9729) in 2009 paved the way for the integration of climate change education into the Philippine school curricula (eg, DepEd order 82 series [2010] and the Enhanced Basic Education Act [2013]) in 2013, with particular emphasis on adaptation strategies considering the frequent disasters caused by droughts and typhoons.8Reyes M Diopenes VE Co R et al.Disaster resilience starts with the young: mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the school curriculum.https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/disaster-resilience-starts-young-mainstreaming-disaster-risk-reduction-schoolDate: 2011Date accessed: December 18, 2021Google Scholar As evidence on extremely high levels of climate anxiety in young Filipinos continues to emerge,2Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar there is a growing need for psychological interventions to equip youth populations with skills to manage climate anxiety. There should be more intensive teacher training on climate change education and school-based mental health professionals (eg, school counsellors, psychologists) with specialised training for students experiencing climate anxiety. Third, since evidence for climate anxiety among Filipino youth is increasing,2Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar, 6Reyes MES Carmen BPB Luminarias MEP Mangulabnan SANB Ogunbode CA An investigation into the relationship between climate change anxiety and mental health among Gen Z Filipinos.Curr Psychol. 2021; (published online July 15.)https://doi.org/10.1007/S12144-021-02099-3Crossref PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar the Philippine Government should include climate anxiety in its universal health-care agenda. Currently, only a small proportion of the entire health budget is allocated for mental health, and there is a scarcity of trained mental health workforce to care for vulnerable young people.9Lally J Tully J Samaniego R Mental health services in the Philippines.BJPsych Int. 2019; 16: 62-64Crossref PubMed Scopus (26) Google Scholar One solution is to conduct capacity-building training in communities at the barangay (local village) level in providing psychological first aid specifically for vulnerable children and adolescent survivors of natural disasters, since they are the individuals most likely to develop severe climate anxiety. Such training for community members at the grassroot level increases the availability and accessibility of psychosocial services, and addresses the limited supply of mental health professionals especially in rural and remote communities. Implementation of the new Mental Health Act of 2019 should include competency enhancement of mental health professionals to meet the demands of an increasingly climate anxious Filipino youth population. The Philippines has incurred US$10 billion in losses from climate-related disasters in the past decade.10World AsiaPhilippines: 100,000 people evacuated as Rai turns into a 'super typhoon.'.https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/philippines-100000-people-evacuated-as-rai-turns-into-a-super-typhoon-1.1639640920269Date: Dec 16, 2021Date accessed: December 18, 2021Google Scholar Investing in the mental health of children and adolescents who will be involved in future climate mitigation and adaptation efforts will prevent the loss of human capital and will be beneficial in the long term. Thus, the Philippine Government should allocate budget for producing evidence-based treatments for children and adolescents who have severe climate anxiety. In conclusion, more research is needed to develop creative solutions to deal with climate anxiety among Filipino children and adolescents.2Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar Preventing the potential long-term effects of climate anxiety on the mental health of children and adolescents will require collaboration among various stakeholders and policy makers. A well-educated youth population with good mental health that is empowered to effect changes would be a formidable resource in the fight against climate change. We declare no competing interests.