Student priest Anna Runesson at the University of Oslo receives enquiries from students struggling with climate anxiety.
They feel hopelessness in the face of climate challenges. For some, climate anxiety becomes a state of paralysis. You can’t look at the future positively, Runesson told Dagen.
Young people who have lost their joyfulness over the future must be taken seriously, the student pastor continues.
Anna Runesson compares climate anxiety with the fear of nuclear war back in the 1980s. She still thinks there is a significant difference between the two.
In the 80s there were more obvious solutions. If you de-escalated production of weapons , it was resolved. With climate anxiety it is worse, because the climate challenges can gradually worsen until it reaches a point of no return. Then despair becomes an abyss, she says.
Student priest Inge Høyland at the University of Bergen and student priest Camilla Wisnes in Trondheim, informs Dagen that they have not received specific enquiries connected to climate anxiety. However, both Høyland and Wisnes believe they may receive such enquiries in the future, as climate change is a growing concern.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
