Generation Z Worries, Suffers and Acts against Climate Crisis—The Potential of Sensing Children’s and Young People’s Eco-Anxiety: A Critical Analysis Based on an Integrative Review

Abstract

The adverse and severe impacts of climate-induced natural hazards, which are expected to be aggravated by climate change, are forming a wider outline of the environmental crisis, being a source of negative emotions for human societies. Children and young people, in particular, are one of the most vulnerable social groups to this distress. In this research, we intend to analyze the eco-anxiety and climate anxiety aspects of Generation Z, based on a critical review of studies on children’s and young people’s ecological feelings worldwide, alongside a study of actual data on natural disasters per country since the year 2000. The results of the research revealed that (a) Generation Z worries in the Global North and suffers in the Global South, (b) Generation Z acts against climate change, and (c) there is an existential dimension of children’s and young people’s eco-anxiety. The study also highlights dimensions of eco-anxiety that are under-researched and are important to explore in the future. Empathizing with Generation Z’s emotional state in relation to ecological crisis and climate change may affect and highlight new directions in environmental thought and awareness.