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This week:
- How do climate activists bounce back from burnout?
- A greener way to wrap your Christmas tree
- A look inside Canada’s first home heated entirely with hydrogen
Feeling exhausted by climate news? Activists share how they bounce back
It’s not an easy time to fight for climate action.
At the UN climate summit, COP29, many climate delegates left feeling underwhelmed by the deal. In the U.S., activists are gearing up for four years worth of battles, since president-elect Donald Trump has said he would expand oil and gas drilling and cease his country’s participation in the Paris climate accord. And it’s all coming as they watch extreme weather events get more dangerous and intense.
With all the bad news, how do people who work on climate change stave off burnout?
In short — it’s not easy, but it takes a personalized arsenal of strategies to keep the bad feelings at bay. Activists say those are essential to stay engaged in fighting climate change and avoid burnout.
Abhay Singh Sachal, mental health columnist for CBC Radio’s What On Earth, says he’s certainly experienced burnout in the past.
“I think burnout for me … comes at a point where I feel like I’m not connected to the work that I’m doing and I’m not seeing the impacts of that work,” Singh Sachal, founder of Break The Divide — a nonprofit that fosters conversations between youth about the environment and mental health — told What On Earth host Laura Lynch.
Singh Sachal says someone experiencing burnout may have less motivation to engage in work, though might dive deeper into their work in an effort to rekindle some joy at their job. They may also feel more tired and withdraw from the people around them. Climate burnout specifically might look like “fatigue, frustration, and withdrawal” by people working to make change.
While people can experience burnout from any professional or volunteer work, research suggests that activists are particularly susceptible to it. Given how uncertain the climate’s future is right now, Singh Sachal adds that this moment seems particularly ripe for burnout among climate activists.
Paul Gorski, an activist and researcher who has studied burnout among social justice and human rights activists, found that 73 per cent of activists said their burnout had negative effects on their work — from dips in creativity or empathy, to wanting to quit altogether. Informally, Gorski said he noticed that about half of the activists he interviewed as part of his research didn’t take breaks from their work and ended up leaving their movement altogether — which he told Vice can hamper a movement’s effectiveness overall.
Luckily, climate activists have some tips.
Canadian Ambassador for Climate Change Catherine Stewart represented the country at COP29. She says her team uses the buddy system, so that each person has “one person in particular that we can reach out to … so that we’re looking out for each other.”
Singh Sachal says rest is his top priority when he’s feeling drained. “Rest is more than just physical rest,” said Singh Sachal. “There’s emotional rest, mental rest.”
These days, he integrates activities that he enjoys in his day-to-day life in order to maintain balance. He regularly plays hockey and piano, and spends time with friends — and doesn’t cancel day-of, even if he’s feeling tired.
When he’s feeling down about work, Singh Sachal also reminds himself of his past successes. He’s started keeping a folder of pictures on his phone filled with messages of support for when he needs a pick-me-up
“When I feel that … burnout creeping up, I look back and I realize that those little things that I do on a consistent basis actually are incredibly valuable,” said Singh Sachal.
Catherine Abreu, director of the International Climate Politics Hub, spoke to CBC’s international climate correspondent Susan Ormiston at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan — right as representatives had come to a major impasse in the negotiations. She says in her line of work, it helps to remember the wins, even when they feel few and far between. And remembering that she’s not in this fight alone also helps her stave off burnout, she adds.
“Everywhere I look, not just in my environmental NGO community, but elsewhere in civil society, in government, in the private sector, in media, I see climate activists and I see people who are really committed to doing everything they can to confront this crisis and find solutions,” Abreu told Ormiston. “And that’s really what keeps me going.”
—Abby Hughes
Old issues of What on Earth? are here. The CBC News climate page is here.
Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: There are a lot of ways to travel long distances. You can carpool, take the bus, ride the train … but for international destinations, figuring out the most climate-friendly method can be tricky. After a listener asked for help, What On Earth’s Dannielle Piper goes cruising for answers.
What On Earth12:46HOW TO: Make vacation choices with climate in mind
What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app, or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Have a compelling personal story about climate change you want to share with CBC News? Pitch a First Person column here.
Reader feedback
In response to Jill English’s first-hand account from the UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Eileen Kinley wrote: “Did you observe any interactions with the fossil fuel lobbyists? CBC noted the fossil fuel influence of the host country but I don’t recall hearing or reading about the fossil fuel lobbyists from other countries. This morning I did a quick search [and found, according to NGO Environmental Defence,] Canadian delegation badges were issued to 19 employees of oil and gas companies, fossil gas utilities and industry associations; and nine people from groups affiliated with the oil and gas industry. [Worldwide], at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists have been allowed to attend.”
Jill English responds: “Yes, many lobbyists do go. Often the oil and gas representation is most visible in what’s called the Green Zone at COP. The Green Zone has more of a trade-show feel and is separate from the UNFCCC negotiations site, which is known as the Blue Zone. But there are cases where lobbyists are in the Blue Zone as well, like on panels at the country pavilions.”
Write us at whatonearth@cbc.ca. (And feel free to send photos too!) Please keep sharing your suggestions for greener holiday gifting or other ways to make the holidays greener – we will compile them for a future issue.
The Big Picture: A greener way to wrap your Christmas tree
It’s the time of year when many families haul a Christmas tree home to their living room to decorate with twinkly lights and shiny ornaments. In order to package it safely for transport, the tree may be “baled” or wrapped in plastic netting, adding to the big global plastic problem — a problem that countries failed to reach an agreement to tackle at the UN plastics summit last week.
But there’s now a greener alternative to plastic tree netting on the Canadian market – Alison McCrindle and Joe Wareham of Chickadee Christmas Trees, in Puslinch, Ont., have developed Bio Tree Net, a cotton Christmas tree netting. It’s a little more expensive, bringing the cost of baling up to $4 from $2.50. But McCrindle said, “We find that our customers are happy to pay a little more to not be using plastic.” You can see Wareham with a tree he just baled in the photo.
When buried, the netting completely biodegrades in under four months, McCrindle added. The farm launched the product in 2023. This year, they manufactured 12,880 metres of the netting and said so far a handful of Christmas tree farms are using it, including their own.
— Emily Chung
Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web
A look inside the first home in Canada heated entirely with hydrogen
CBC’s Natasha Riebe takes you inside a hydrogen home prototype in Sherwood Park, outside Edmonton. Developers hope to build 37,000 homes heated by hydrogen in Bremner, Alta., starting next spring, if regulations are put in place to allow utilities to provide hydrogen. But critics say the hydrogen that would be used for the homes — created from natural gas with some carbon capture — is far from clean.
Stay in touch!
Thanks for reading. Are there issues you’d like us to cover? Questions you want answered? Do you just want to share a kind word? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at whatonearth@cbc.ca.
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Editors: Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty