Save the Children survey reveals climate anxiety in youngsters: Teenage climate change campaigner from Chorley discusses his fears

A survey of 3000 children by the charity Save the Children found that 70% of UK youngsters are worried about the world they will inherit, whilst 60% believe climate change is affecting their generation’s mental health.

17-year-old William Grunstein has been a member of Save the Children’s Youth Advisory Board since April 2022. The group, for those aged 12-18, meet regularly to discuss issues, support the charity’s campaigns, and offer the views of young people.

Explaining why he feels climate anxiety, the Runshaw College student said: “It's not knowing what the world would look like in the future, because the government are very sceptical, it appears, when it comes to dealing with climate change; and across the globe, world leaders go to these meetings, but they don't come out with any sort of agreements in place which will help prevent the atrocities of climate change.

“In general, the thought of living in a world which is plagued with all of these things that we hear scientists talk about, really hot summers, wildfires, droughts, adverse weather conditions, it’s worrying. But the uncertainty is what gets to me the most, particularly when we know that climate change is such a big issue, that it will affect all of us and when you see governments not wanting to act, that's what frightens me the most.”

A standout message from the survey was a feeling of hopelessness among children, for instance Youth Advisory Board member Roisin said “I'm worried about the world I'm inheriting because it's something that's out of my control…we can feel powerless”. Reflecting on this, psychotherapist and climate anxiety expert Caroline Hickman said “They are aware this is the world they are growing up in, and it seems no one is taking their concern seriously,”

When asked why ‘hopeless’ encapsulates his generation’s feelings, William answered: “It's because as individuals, there's only so much that we can do to alleviate the consequences of climate change, like we can buy sustainable products, drive electric cars, put solar panels on our roofs, but that's it, the bigger issues need to be dealt with by the government and these big businesses which contribute the most to pollution. And I think children in particular, because we're so often ignored by the establishment, that's why we feel especially hopeless.”

Among his peers, William says that the threat of climate change is very much present, the young being “the most aware generation”, but he reluctantly admits that many seem resigned to it.

“People are very pessimistic about it, they're not hopeful the government will act and they're just getting used to the idea that in the future, the world will look very different and we just have to put up with that, because there's nothing that we can do”, he says.

With the young being well educated on the issues, William believes all they can do now is keep pushing the government by messaging their local MPs and getting involved in groups which will amplify their voice, like the Youth Advisory Board. Change will then only come once the government listens.

The survey found that 75% of children want the government to take stronger action on climate and equality action, and indeed the results were published to coincide with Cop 27 as Save the Children wanted to send a powerful message to Rishi Sunak and other world leaders.

Sharing his disappointment in Cop 27, William said: "It felt like a repetition of what happened in Glasgow last year, where world leaders at the start appear very determined, they say ‘we want to do this, this and this’ and then at the end, they say ‘unfortunately, we've not been able to agree to this, however, we have done this’, and the thing that they have agreed to is a diluted version of the original proposal, but then it also transpires that this new agreement is missing major economically developed countries from the list of signatories so actually, they've failed to achieve anything meaningful.

“Lots of smaller countries are determined to put things in place to prevent climate change because they're going to be affected the most…but because the countries who have the powers to make the biggest impact, such as the UK, United States and China, aren't going to be as severely affected, our government's are very nonchalant about it. They're not denying that climate change is a thing, but they're putting it to the side, and that's why we see so little progress."

William has been impressed by politicians in other ways though, for instance he has written to his MP Lindsay Hoyle and finds him to be very “responsive”, and most recently, met Keir Starmer at a climate coalition meeting in November.

William read out a letter to Keir from his current to his future self, discussing his fears and what he wanted to see in terms of climate action; then in turn listened to Keir's proposals. William says he found Keir to be passionate, and “would feel optimistic if the Labour government came into power”, although he “can only wait until the future” to see if his optimism was warranted.

Determining others to remain hopeful, William added: “I know it can be really difficult, but try to be optimistic; knowing that there are leaders out there who are calling on the government to act and there are millions of people across the globe who share those worries, is really important, because you know that you're not alone. To people who are actively doing something to prevent the disaster that is climate change, keep doing it, because in the future, if something positive does come out of these annual conferences, their efforts won’t have been in vain, and they'll feel immensely proud because of their hard work.”