Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres joined our partners at Climate Mental Health Network and Climate Psychology Alliance earlier this week for an interactive event to tackle the questions so many climate-conscious caregivers have asked: How can parents help their children cope with the emotional and physical impacts of the climate crisis? And how can parents take care of themselves while also caring for their children?
Parenting in the climate crisis is not easy. Our panelists—including Moms’ Elizabeth Bechard, EcoMadres’ Liz Hurtado, Anya Kamenetz from Climate Mental Health Network, and Jenni Silverstein from Climate Psychology Alliance—know this all too well and, over the course of an hour, offered nuanced guidance for navigating everything from the fraught decision to have children to tricky conversations with kids about environmental challenges.
Elizabeth Bechard, Moms’ Senior Policy Analyst, highlighted findings from a literature review she co-authored on mental health and climate change. A key theme is the idea of “moral injury”—when someone experiences harm from witnessing or engaging in actions that violate their core moral values. Previous generations’ disregard for our warming planet has left our youth in despair, Elizabeth argues.
“Young people are experiencing moral injury due to the utter failure, in many cases, of governments and large institutions to respond to climate change at the speed and scale needed to address the crisis. Young people feel deeply betrayed by the adults in the room.”
Adults experience moral injury in the sense of being fearful of what the future holds for our children.
“There’s really nothing more core, I think for many of us, to what it means to be a parent than this desire to protect and care for our children. We all want our children … to be safe from harm, and increasingly, climate change is interfering both directly and indirectly with our ability to do this,” Elizabeth said.
Liz Hurtado, National Field Manager for Moms and EcoMadres, shed light on the disproportionate climate stress experienced by people of color. Seven in 10 Hispanic adults say climate change is affecting their local community at least some compared to 54% of non-Hispanic adults.
“This is largely because people of color are often more exposed and vulnerable to environmental hazards, including air pollution and extreme weather events… These communities are hit first and worst and are more likely to have fewer personal and economic resources for coping.”
Liz also shared the work EcoMadres is doing to give a voice to those who have previously been silenced. Part of coping, Liz said, is being in a position to make a difference.
“We really aim to empower people in our communities to speak up—because we’ve been silenced for so long—to demand a seat at the table, to be part of the solution-making process, decision-making process, because we haven’t been invited to those conversations before.”
This event drew participants from around the globe, from Indonesia and Australia to Canada and Brazil. The insightful questions raised sparked meaningful conversations about parenting and maintaining hope. Spaces like this one can give parents worldwide valuable opportunities to share their experiences and concerns and to create meaningful relationships with other families.
Catch the full replay here:
Learn more about Moms’ work on mental health.
TELL CONGRESS: SUPPORT MENTAL WELLNESS RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITIES HIT BY CLIMATE DISASTER