Apocalypse Fatigue

Delving into the climate section of the news always feels pretty triggering for me. The COP26 is only a couple of weeks away, where more than 100 world leaders will gather in Glasgow for one of the biggest climate conferences since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Its outcome will have massive ramifications on the global effort to reach net 0 emissions by 2050. It’s not an understatement to say that the fate and continued health of the ecosystems that support life on this planet rely heavily on this meeting being a productive one.

It feels like the global climate space has shifted to something a lot more hopeful since Biden’s administration pledged to reduce US emissions by 50% by 2030. But at the end of the day, we still have to rely on governments not only to want to cut emissions (something Australia is still struggling to do), but to actually put the policies and realistic targets needed to create on-the-ground change into action. This is more than just a little anxiety inducing.

In a world that seems to have a new crisis every week, sometimes it can be difficult mustering the engagement that this issue demands. The next couple of decades will take continued public scrutiny to keep governments true to their word, and understanding potential psychological and emotional barriers to engaging with climate is a key part of that journey. For those interested in those barriers, Australian writer Rebecca Huntley’s book ‘How to talk about climate in a way that makes a difference’ and Per Espen Stoknes' TED Talk on ‘Apocalypse Fatigue’ are great places to start.