Climate activist burnout
Climate activist burnout is common and can be detrimental to individual activists and the climate movement as a whole. The urgency of the climate crisis can make it hard to step back, rest, and acknowledge our limits. It’s important to remember that activism is a marathon, not a sprint, and that there are millions of climate activists around the world working towards the same goal. Practicing self-care, considering our boundaries, and choosing forms of activism that are sustainable and regenerative can help activists stay involved.
The urgency of climate action
Most forms of activism happen over many decades, with cultural, political, and social change happening incrementally over time. Global warming and ecological breakdown require a more urgent response. The speed of global warming and ecological breakdown is currently outpacing political and social change. Climate tipping points could cause rapid and potentially irreversible changes, making global warming increasingly difficult to manage.
This puts daunting pressure on climate scientists and activists to succeed at convincing politicians to pass policies that urgently phase out fossil fuels and protect ecosystems that are critical to our safety and survival, and convince the public to curb their energy use and cut back on consumption.
Vicarious trauma
Climate activists, along with non-activists, are increasingly exposed to severe climate disasters around the world and the resulting suffering of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems. Activists may also spend considerable amounts of time reading about climate change, ecological destruction, and future threats. Over time, repeated exposure to suffering and distress can contribute to climate anxiety, pre-traumatic stress, secondary or vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and emotional and physical exhaustion.
Political Frustration
When people repeatedly try to improve a situation but see little or no result from their efforts, they can begin to feel powerless. This can lead to what psychologists call learned helplessness, the belief that our actions can’t meaningfully change the outcome.
Climate activists in the United States have experienced this under the Trump administration - the anger, fear, and frustration that resulted from climate policies that took years to achieve being weakened or repealed. Some activists have responded by stepping back from federal advocacy and focusing on state and local action, voting, and protecting our democracy until a new administration takes office.
Another cause of frustration and learned helplessness is the nonchalance of the media. As extreme weather events intensify around the globe and activists push for change, the media is covering climate change less frequently. As a result, many people are failing to connect climate change and the continued burning of fossil fuels with increasingly extreme weather events.
Preventing and recovering from burnout
Choose sustainable forms of activism
If you join a climate group, find a group that’s a good fit for you. Make sure you’re okay with decision-making procedures and the overall culture of the group. Nonviolent communication, conflict resolution processes, and a culture based on equity and gratitude are all good signs.
If you’re an introvert, you might prefer to do climate activism independently or in a small group.
Find a form of activism that works for you and allow that to ebb and flow over time. Extroverts may enjoy protests, public speaking, and posting on social media. People who tend towards introversion may prefer writing, creating art, or planting a native garden.
Self-care
Rest, exercise, eating well, staying hydrated, and getting enough sleep
Setting boundaries and saying no when you’re overextended
Cutting back on bad news and doomscrolling
Taking short or long-term breaks from activism
Process emotions
Find ways to safely process your emotions - whether that’s in solitude, with a few trusted people, or in community
Climate activism involves grieving for children’s futures, people and communities in the Global South who are disproportionately vulnerable to global warming and ecological breakdown, and plants, animals, and ecosystems that are being harmed. It can also involve anticipatory grief - the fear, anger, and despair about what may happen in the future. Making space for grief can be an important part of sustaining ourselves.
Acceptance
Personally, accepting that the climate movement might not succeed and that there is a limit to what we can do has helped me stay involved. We can advocate, organize, educate, and create, but we can’t force politicians to act with enough urgency, and we can’t control whether, as a global society, we continue to overconsume.
As someone who is outgrowing giving without bounds, experiencing burnout has taught me that boundaries and stepping back don’t equate to lack of care. Doing less activism and creating space for self-care is, in itself, an act of resistance. Sometimes the kindest and most sustainable thing we can do is take a break and return to activism when we have the capacity and in whatever way feels regenerative.
More reading
Yes Magazine, Don’t Let Youth Climate Activists Like Me Burn Out
Thomas Huebl, What the Climate Movement Can Learn From Collective Trauma Healing
Amnesty, How activists and reporters can protect themselves from secondary trauma
Popsugar Fitness, How Can Activists Take Care of Their Mental Health?
Laurence Cox, National University of Ireland Maynooth, How do we keep going? Activist burnout and personal sustainability in social movements
Atmos, The Environmental Movement Faces Burnout. This Woman Wants to Repair That
Resources
1 Million Women, A Self Care Guide To Helping The Planet
Climate Designers.org, Rest and Resistance
