The challenge
Until now, there has been little connected global research around the mental health challenges of climate change and how to respond to them.
The solution
A new Global Research and Action Agenda identifies research priorities and recommendations to understand and act on the mental health impacts of the climate crisis.
The impact
Improved research approaches and the integration of climate and mental health policies, practices and frameworks.
Researchers at Imperial played a key role in a new Global Research and Action Agenda which sets out an inclusive vision for understanding the relationship between climate change and mental health.
There is a pressing global need to understand and address the needs of people experiencing and responding to the mental health burden of the climate crisis. In response to this, over the last 18 months, more than 960 people in 90 countries – from research, policy, practice and lived experience – have been brought together by the Connecting Climate Minds project to develop an agenda for the climate and mental health field.
Global research with a common goal
Connecting Climate Minds is a Wellcome-funded project delivered through global partners and led by the Climate Cares Centre at Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health and Innovation (IGHI). This global research community is driven by a common goal: understanding and addressing the intricate relationship between our planet’s changing climate and our mental health. The main output of the project, led by Imperial’s Dr Emma Lawrance and Professor Sir David Nabarro, is the Global Research and Action Agenda, which describes how people globally are experiencing mental health challenges caused or worsened by the climate crisis.
Listening to lived experience
Working with youth, indigenous communities, small farmer and fisher peoples, and people from regions around the world, the project researchers saw the prevalence and diversity of the mental health impacts of the climate crisis. Dr Lawrence said: “It has been humbling to hear hundreds of stories of the lived reality of the climate crisis and the consequences for mental health. It’s been thrilling to experience the power of connecting and sharing understandings across disciplines, sectors, generations, cultures and nations.”
Turning evidence into action
The Global Research and Action Agenda aims to build research evidence in areas where there is a critical need to inform decisions that can better protect people’s mental health while creating a safer climate. In practice, this will lead to improved research infrastructure, inclusive approaches to research, and the integration of climate and mental health policies, practices and frameworks.