PERSPECTIVES & ADJUSTMENT OF CLIMATE-DISPLACED TEENS
OUR GOALS:
1. To better understand how displacement (climate-related or otherwise) affects the mental health and well-being of young people
2. To learn how community health services can better support these affected youth
ABOUT PACT
Climate displacement can uproot young people from their homes, support networks, and community, which can seriously impact their mental health and overall well-being if they don't receive the right support. Despite these challenges, there’s still limited research on how being displaced by climate impacts the mental health of teens.
The PACT (Perspectives & Adjustment of Climate-displaced Teens) project aims to fill this gap by studying how climate displacement affects adolescents’ well-being and figuring out how community health services can best support them. Our team brings together experts in health science, psychology, and community engagement, working alongside partners like The Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. (SPARC BC). Together, we'll develop tools and policies to help teens cope with climate-related challenges now and in the future.
Almost half of young people aged 16 to 25 in 10 different countries say they feel extra anxiety because of climate change
About 45% of them say these feelings make their daily lives harder*
About 1 billion kids and teens are at "extremely high risk" from the effects of climate change such as...
‧ droughts
‧ wildfires
‧ food insecurity
‧ flooding**
These dangers often force people to leave their homes
In 2019, 23.9 million people worldwide had to move because of these risks, many of them being teenagers**
*Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., et al. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. Lancet Planet Health, 5, e863-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3
**UNICEF. The climate crisis is a child rights crisis: introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index. 2021. https://www.unicef.org/media/105376/file/UNICEFclimate-crisis-child-rights-crisis.pdf