A climate of hope? Exploring how young people cope psychologically with global climate change

Although many young people think climate change is an important societal issue, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are common. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated how this group is coping psychologically with the climate threat. The present study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by exploring what young people in late childhood, mid to late adolescence, and emerging adulthood do to feel more hopeful about climate change. All three groups answered a questionnaire in which they wrote freely about coping strategies. The qualitative coding of the written statements revealed several sources of hope such as denial and distancing strategies, positive re-appraisal, trust in different societal actors, problem-focused coping, and existential hope. Implications for education concerning sustainable development are discussed.