According to the American Psychology Association (APA), eco-anxiety is the chronic fear of environmental tragedy that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one’s future and that of the next generation.
In simple words, eco-anxiety is the feeling of worry over the thought of impending doom or disaster due to environmental changes. Waste pollution can influence eco-anxiety in people due to detrimental effects (such as environmental degradation) that mount on the environment, human health, and other ecosystems. It results in soil, water, and air contamination, which harms people, animals, and their habitats.
Eco-anxiety can develop and grow as a result of seeing and being impacted by wastes. Research published in 2018 on solid waste management in Nigeria estimated that Nigeria generates about 42 million tonnes of waste annually. That is 67.7% of the waste generated in sub-Saharan Africa (62 million). These extreme levels of pollution lead to contamination of our natural environment and can create an atmosphere of worry and fear for ecological well-being.
Caroline Hickman, a climate psychologist, conducted an online survey in 2021, asking 10,000 youths across 10 countries to report the impact of climate change and its crisis on their mental and emotional states. Of those youths, 1,000 are from Nigeria and 22% were extremely worried about climate change and its impacts on functioning, 29% were very worried, 27% were a little bit worried and 3% were not worried at all. Many participants felt betrayed and that the government had abandoned them and future generations.
Figure 1. Worry about climate change and its impacts on functioning.
These feelings are a result of the changes experienced in the environment, which affect our mental and physical health and well-being, especially among youth. In 2022, flooding in Nigeria ravaged over 34 out of 36 states, killed over 600 people, and displaced over 1.2 million people. More than 70% of the cases involved children, adolescents, and youths who now face the risk of food and health insecurities, according to UNICEF. Although it hasn’t been adopted formally as a medical condition, eco-anxiety affects our well-being, especially among the Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA). MAPA are those impacted the most by environmental challenges and have the least available resources to adapt or tackle the challenges.
Possible actions that can help reassure people and lessen their worry
1. Accountability and Transparency
More emphasis should be placed on accountability by people, corporate bodies and the government. They should also set and publish their sustainability goals with specificity. More systems and technological innovations that boost transparency and implementation by government, policymakers, enforcement agencies, and businesses should be encouraged too. Also, all parties should openly publish their environmental objectives, emission targets, and results, outlining their carbon emissions, water use, and waste impacts.
2. Fairness and Inclusion
Communities that are most affected and have the smallest capacity for adaptation or mitigation should be given priority when making decisions, allocating funds, and carrying out projects. It is important to do so to avoid widening the number of the impacted.
3. Climate / Environmental Education and organizational supports
More NGOs, CBOs, Profit organizations and International bodies should prioritize finding sustainable solutions to these challenges. They should help raise public awareness and use policy advocacy tools. Also, these organizations can play a significant role in ensuring fair, factual, reliable, and unbiased information is made available to the public (especially in vulnerable communities) in the best context. As more people access information, more power is given to the public, and they gain more understanding and put more pressure on government and policymakers for fair, sustainable and equitable implementation. As they say, “Knowledge is Power.”
4. Finance
More funding from the government, international and local organizations and donations should be made available to enable the implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies. This assurance reinstate hope and set a possibility for a better reality.
How can Youths in Nigeria live with Eco-anxiety?
Rather than tackling all the problems at once, focusing on specific, small but impactful means to start their change journey is more likely to help them feel better, cope, and avoid burnout.
1. Stay Informed
It is true that these challenges, which have exacerbated the inequalities, exist. However, most information out there might be unreliable or just “prophets of doom,” so it is advisable to get information from reliable, fact-based sources. Also, it is essential to seek information from several different sources to gain different perspectives on the subject matter.
2. Think and Process your emotions
Your feelings are valid, but sometimes they may have been heightened by overwhelming, gloomy messages on the internet. This is why it is good to first seek the proper knowledge and then sit back and process your emotions. You can join organizations or find like-minded individuals to share your thoughts and worries with.
3. Start making small impacts
With the information gained, you can stop buying single-use plastics, start your own composting to reduce your footprint or join community cleanups and tree planting. It is always better to start small and be consistent; you will achieve more. Additionally, volunteering with youth-driven or youth-led organizations like SustyVibes can help one connect with other changemakers and form a community to encourage more modest but noticeable effects.
4. Support young people
This is mainly for the elderly and people in a position to help. You can do all the above steps and support young people, especially in low-income, disadvantaged communities. This can be through funding, moral and technical support, social mobilization and policy advocacy to push for green development and economy, which will benefit the now and future generations.
5. Live and Enjoy Your life
This might be the last stated, but that doesn’t make it the least. By taking on small responsibilities in your own space and daily life, you will realize that you feel much better and are less anxious. In the same way, we have only one earth, and we equally have just one life to live, and it should be done most enjoyably and sustainably, not letting the many worries swallow us up in the gloom.
Eco-anxiety shows that people care for their environment and are concerned when things are not as they should be. Eco-anxiety should be seen as a response to our changing environment.
Authors: Amaefule Excel & Oluwaseyi Afolabi