Join us on this journey as we recap the highlights of COP28 in the UAE. The Climate Cares Centre team shed light on the profound interconnections between mental health and climate change, and the critical window for shifting from a vicious to a virtuous cycle, enabling people and the planet to thrive.
The 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) was a turning point for the centring of human health in climate negotiations. Political leaders began to acknowledge climate change as a health emergency, including at COP’s first ‘Health Day’, where more than 140 countries made a historic commitment to the UAE Declaration on Climate and Health, and one billion USD in finance commitments were pledged for climate and health.
This progress follows years of advocacy by the climate and health community, who have worked tirelessly to put people and health at the centre of the multilateral climate processes. The health community collectively used its trusted voice to achieve recognition of the fact that in negotiating the amount of fossil fuels that can be dug up and burned, what is ultimately being negotiated is how many people will lose their lives, their health, their land, and their livelihoods. The 7 trillion USD given in fossil fuel subsidies in 2022 alone is also subsidizing air pollution and the premature deaths of more than 8 million people. It is additionally subsidising the increased intensity of a changing climate and all the associated hazards, which is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the greatest threat to human health. And it is not only physical health that is on the line.
COP28 also saw growing recognition of the deep interconnections between climate change, mental health and well-being. Starting with the first-ever mental health event at a COP in Glasgow, the Climate Cares Centre has been part of international efforts to bring attention to the psychological stressors and traumas of the climate crisis. At every COP, we highlighted how climate impacts are raising the risk of people dying by suicide, new cases and worsened symptoms of mental health problems, and reduced well-being through more distress, stress, and negative sentiment in the population. The extra mental health burden from extreme weather events, air pollution, and lack of access to green space has been estimated at 537 billion USD every year by 2050. The mental health toll of the climate crisis is reducing the capacity of individuals, communities, and systems to take action to prevent and adapt to the increasing climate hazards they face.
From a vicious to a virtuous cycle, the opportunity for action should not yet be missed. Climate action is an opportunity multiplier for creating the conditions that foster good mental health such as more connected and equal societies, clean air, and access to green spaces, while good mental health and psychological resilience can be an enabler of sustained climate action.
Recognizing the climate-mental health nexus
Out of the many “firsts” for health at COP was a COP Presidency-led dialogue on mental health and climate change, hosted at the COP28 Youth Climate Champion Pavilion. The Climate Cares Centre supported the organisation by the co-hosts of Wellcome and the Health Working Group of the official Children and Youth Constituency.
Participants also shared the overlooked impacts of climate change on the mental health of people with disabilities including social isolation and increased vulnerability during climate-related disasters. A powerful question came from one of the COP28 youth delegates, who spoke of the need to understand how people with disabilities are affected in particular in the climate crisis, and what these risks and burdens do to their mental health. She noted, “Mental health is often overlooked, but we often become stressed in our minds, and then sick in our bodies.”
Introducing Connecting Climate Minds at COP
One of the Climate Cares Centre’s flagship initiatives is Connecting Climate Minds (CCM), a global Wellcome-funded project that aims to develop an aligned and inclusive agenda for research and action on climate change and mental health that is grounded in the needs of those with lived experience of mental health challenges in the context of climate change. Over the last year, the CCM project has developed communities of practice in climate change and mental health around the world, including diverse expertise including that of lived experience.
The second day at COP28 had us brimming with enthusiasm as we held the first official in-person Connecting Climate Minds (CCM) as a UNFCCC side event. We focused on the methodology by which the seven regional communities have developed research and action priorities for climate-mental health nexus. We also highlighted the priority themes that emerged from the eighteen virtual and in-person dialogues across Peru, Nigeria, India, and Cameroon with indigenous communities, smallholder farmers, and young people. Professor Sir David Nabarro chaired a lively discussion with remarks by exceptional representatives from the CCM global team and youth ambassadors, Wellcome, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Federation of Medical Students Association.
Later that day, Jess presented the work and process led by the CCM team to develop a youth-led agenda for research and action in climate change and mental health level based on the insights and expertise of the 150+ young participants. Jess highlighted “Critically, young people want and need to be at the heart of research to better understand and respond to the impacts of climate change on their mental health. We also heard many young people share the need to integrate mental health into climate education, which is one of the Climate Cares Centre’s areas of focus for 2024”.
Insights and hopes of young people
The second week of COP began with Youth, Children, Education, and Skills Day, which aimed to bring the perspectives and actions led by young people to the centre of climate diplomacy. Not only are young people among the most vulnerable when it comes to the intersecting risks of climate change for mental health, but they also have important perspectives on actions that can foster both psychological and climate resilience. Thus, involving young people in decision-making around climate action is a critical pathway for supporting their mental health and well-being in the context of climate change.
In addition, we had the opportunity to speak at the Entertainment and Culture Pavilion demonstrating the impacts of climate change on livelihood and culture leading to ecological grief as a reaction to threatened and realized loss. Conversely, the connection of many young people to culture, land, and communities has been strengthened by their engagement in collective climate action. Omnia El Omrani shared that: “As the COP27 President Youth Envoy, I saw the exceptional ability of youth to communicate the urgency of climate action in ways that resonate with communities and build agency through the lens of culture and arts, bridging the gap between science and lived experiences.”
Elevating the political profile of mental health
At COP28, our team focused on making the case for mental health as a priority action in the health response to climate change. We were inspired to see that the climate and mental health intersection was integrated in the first section of the UAE Climate and Health Declaration on common objectives: “Promoting a comprehensive response to address the impacts of climate change on health, including, for example, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, loss of traditional medicinal knowledge, loss of livelihoods and culture, and climate-induced displacement and migration.”
On the last day, the COP28 Global Stocktake outcome was adopted and included the first-ever mention of transitioning away from fossil fuels, and several country delegates used their final interventions following the text adoption to acknowledge that, for them, COP28 negotiations had represented a step forward in being more “heart-centred”. Such mention can be a springboard for the development of concrete targets with the finance needed and the means of implementation to equitably phase out fossil fuels aligning with what the science says is urgently needed to protect people from the worst consequences of climate change on their health and well-being. Dr. Emma Lawrance shared her reflections with The Guardian: “The COP negotiations are ultimately negotiating human health and wellbeing – mental and physical. Unless developed countries lead the way in delivering emission cuts and the fair funding structures other countries need to act, the cost of inaction will be lives and quality of life.”
What’s next?
Despite the progress made on the recognition of mental health in the context of climate negotiations, the awareness and prioritization of the climate-mental health nexus remains more concentrated on climate anxiety in young people. It was also evident that research and action remained disconnected, with successful interventions being quietly implemented but not widely identified and elevated at COP. Climate and mental health policies and practices continued to operate siloed, missing opportunities for co-beneficial cost-effective action. This could be attributed to the under-researched complexity of the interactions between climate and mental health leading to the inadequate consideration of all mental health impacts and actions across climate discussions and vice versa. Nienke Meinsma noted: “It was great to see mental health prominently featured on the Health Day and throughout COP. However, we need to see concrete commitments to research, policy, and funding for climate and mental health as to safeguard the mental health of the most affected communities by the climate crisis.”
This presents a significant opportunity for future COPs to increase the awareness and deep understanding of the overlooked climate-related mental health presentations, economic outcomes, and interventions that respond to them such as post-traumatic stress disorders due to extreme weather events, suicide due to increased traumas and livelihood impacts (e.g. crop failure), and physical heat stress risks for people with pre-existing mental health challenges (e.g. psychotropic medication side effects in extreme heat impairing ability to regulate temperature).
To effectively address this, funding institutions such as multilateral development banks and philanthropic foundations could fund research and research capacity building/awareness raising to better understand and address the linkages between climate and mental health. The research findings could provide policymakers with scientific data and indicators to integrate mental health into climate policy and vice versa.
Thus, on 19-21 March 2024, we will come together in person in Barbados to finalize the Connecting Climate Minds Global Research and Action Agenda on climate change and mental health, celebrate the communities that have been built and the past year’s tremendous work and discuss how the agenda can be translated into policy and practice. You can sign up to join us virtually here.