Episode
Can We Teach Climate Change Without Overwhelming Young People?
- Podcast
- The Wild Minds Podcast
- Published
- May 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3212
- Processing state
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Summary
Today I’m speaking with Jessica Newberry Le Vay, Senior Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and part of Climate Cares - a global initiative based at Oxford and Imperial College London, working to understand and respond to the links between climate change, mental health and wellbeing. Jessica leads the Compass Project, a research programme exploring how climate change education can be integrated with mental health and wellbeing, so that young people are better supported to live, work and thrive in a changing climate. Before joining Oxford, Jessica worked at Imperial College London as a Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow with Climate Cares, and previously led Cancer Research UK’s policy research programme on cancer prevention. In this episode: Jessica describes climate change and mental health as two deeply connected crises, because how we feel shapes how we respond. The conversation centres on the Compass Project, which looks at how students and educators experience climate education and climate emotions. Jessica shares that many young people feel anxiety, fear, anger, grief, hopelessness or betrayal in response to climate breakdown. She highlights research showing that 59% of young people surveyed globally were very or extremely worried about climate change. More than 45% of those young people said their climate feelings were affecting daily life, including sleep, eating, school and relationships. Jessica explains that climate anxiety is often a rational, healthy and caring response, rather than something to simply remove or fix. Marina and Jessica explore how unspoken emotions can affect mental health, especially when young people do not feel able to share what they are carrying. Teachers are also experiencing climate worry, wh…