Anger is the most powerful emotion for driving climate action

A recent study, which asked over 2,000 Norwegian adults how they felt about the climate crisis, found the link to activism was seven times stronger for anger than it is for hope.

If, during the last few years, you’ve experienced an overwhelming sense of anger regarding the current state of our planet, know that — by all means — you are not alone.

According to a survey conducted by peer-reviewed journal The Lancet in 2021, 50 per cent of us feel this strong emotion towards the climate crisis.

And, faced with rising reports of eco-anxiety, psychologists across the globe have been racing to understand how people’s feelings about the destruction of nature affect their mental health.

‘Our research shows that more than 70 per cent of 500 people in 52 countries not only feel like the issue is contributing negatively to their mental health, but that it’s also making them feel powerless,’ says Clover Hogan, an environmentalist whose non-profit organisation Force of Nature educates on how we can turn this frustration into agency.