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Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: Does Climate Anxiety Have a Positive Effect?!

Guest Speaker: Chae Sumi, Deputy Director of the Department of Healthcare Policy Research, KIHASA

Transcript

As more questions arise about climate anxiety, I feel I have to explain it a bit more. Climate anxiety is not a disease, nor is it inherently a bad thing―this is something we should keep in mind. Research shows that climate anxiety can have both positive and negative effects. What does that mean? For instance, when someone experiences mild climate anxiety, they may become more aware of climate change and adopt more environmentally friendly behavior. However, when climate anxiety becomes too intense, it can result in denial or complete avoidance of the issue. To explore this further, we conducted a study involving Korean participants. The results showed that, on average, those who felt more climate anxiety tended to engage in more environmentally friendly behavior. What does this tell us? It suggests that people in Korea are currently experiencing moderate climate anxiety, and that this is having a positive impact.