Employers Have Started To Focus On Mental Health – Have They Factored In Climate Anxiety?

Scientific climate models have long predicted the increased frequency of extreme weather events, but as July brought fatal floods to Europe and China, alongside record temperatures experienced in Canada and wildfires in the U.S. – the signs are hard to ignore.

Such compounding evidence of anthropogenic climate change has provoked a spectrum of emotions felt by the public, ranging from climate anxiety, to ecological grief and existential dread. However, despite the nexus between wellbeing and climate change, research thus far has focussed predominantly on the physical toll, as opposed to the mental burden. For businesses and employers, there are significant costs to be considered, given that employers in the U.K. alone are losing up to £45 bn each year due to poor mental health of their workforce.

As runaway climate change takes hold of the world, have organisations joined the dots? Have leadership teams considered the necessary health infrastructure that should be put in place to best support employees through this unchartered territory?  Whilst businesses begin to focus more on mental wellbeing in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, their pastoral care must incorporate climate related anxiety into decision making in order to allocate health resources effectively.

 
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Πηγή: forbes.com