Grief as an important ingredient of climate action
"Keep it Together", by Tammy West. Featured in the Fifth National Climate Assessment's art gallery (2023)—a site that has since been taken down.
As someone who communicates about climate change for work, I often grapple with the tension between inspiring hope and keeping it real.
In recent years, I've heard a strong emphasis on “hope” as the sole motivator for encouraging “everyday people” to take action and prevent us from sliding deeper into climate catastrophe.
But when I talk with people about when they decided to dedicate their lives to climate mitigation, nearly all of them recount a heavy moment of realization—the loss of something precious, a beloved natural landscape forever changed, the concern for their children's futures.
We’re not in the business of convincing people that climate change is real or important anymore; the vast majority of the world understands this. The question then becomes: how do we help each other cope with the weight of that reality?
Storytelling about climate change can offer something more nuanced than hope. It can help our grief-averse culture learn how to grieve. So, what does that look like?
Many insightful and eloquent voices have explored this question, and I’ll link some of my recent favorites below. I’d love to hear any thoughts or recommendations you have, too.
