In recent years, the ecological crisis has increasingly been understood not only as an environmental, economic, or social issue, but also as a psychological one. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation are not only transforming the physical world, but they are also shaping how individuals and communities feel and relate to the future.

For organisations working in conservation and sustainability, this reality is not abstract. It is part of their everyday work; embedded in the data that they see, the decisions they make as well as their lived experience.

The Emergence of Eco-Anxiety

Research has shown that while a significant proportion of young people report intense concern about climate change, only a minority present clinical levels of anxiety or depression (Hickman et al., 2021). This distinction is essential since eco-anxiety is not a pathological condition, but rather an adaptive or generative response to the external environment, and can be understood through three complementary dimensions:

• A moral emotion, reflecting concern for environmental harm
• An existential emotion, linked to uncertainty about the future of life on Earth
• A potential driver for collective action, transforming concern into engagement

From this perspective, eco-anxiety becomes less of a problem that needs eliminating and more a signal that needs understanding.

Organisations at the Frontline of Emotional Exposure

Organisations working in environmental conservation occupy a particular position in relation to these dynamics.

Through their daily engagement with environmental realities and geopolitical challenges, individuals are exposed, often indirectly, to a continuous emotional load. This exposure can resemble what has been described in other fields as “vicarious” stress. In other words, this is cumulative “secondary” stress, typically found in caring professions, caused by emotional, cognitive, and physical exposure to situations involving suffering.

Over time, this type of stress does not remain at the individual level. It becomes part of the relational and emotional fabric of teams, influencing their collaboration, impacting their decision-making, and the ability to sustain engagement.

The Hidden Challenge: When Emotion Remains Unspoken

In many teams, eco-anxiety is not so explicit, instead it manifests through:

• A constant sense of urgency and tension between competing demands
• A hard to recognise sense of pressure or emotional overload
• Difficulty identifying sources of misalignment despite sharing a common purpose

When these dynamics remain unspoken, they can erode trust, fragment collaboration, and ultimately reduce collective effectiveness.

Yet, when recognised, these dynamics can also become a powerful entry point to strengthen alignment and cohesion.

Case Study: Recognising and Working with Eco-Anxiety in Practice

Whilst working with one international conservation organisation, this theme did not emerge as an immediate concern but became progressively more visible over several years of collaboration.

Through our ongoing work with a regional leadership team, we observed certain patterns begin to surface; tensions around priorities, approaches to dealing with them and variations in perceived urgency and engagement. As one participant shared, it sometimes feels “like being a doctor in an emergency room all the time” a constant state of alertness where everything feels urgent and is difficult to step back from.

While such dynamics are not uncommon, they point to an underlying dimension worth exploring more explicitly. Eco-anxiety was introduced as a lens to better understand the emotional landscape connected to the work, and this framing was well received.

Participants engaged with the concept both intellectually and experientially through the mapping exercise shared below. The distinction between moral, existential, and action-oriented responses provided a shared language to make these dynamics more visible. Several insights emerged: 

• A greater recognition of the role of emotions in sustaining resilience, 
• An increased awareness that individuals experience ecological concerns differently 
• A renewed appreciation for collective spaces to reflect and reconnect with purpose
• The importance of focusing on what can be influenced, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge

A participant noted: “We realised that we all share fears, frustrations, and uncertainties related to eco-anxiety, even if they manifest differently, and through this deeper understanding, together with our shared commitment and purpose, we can strengthen collective action.”

Following this work, participants reported feeling more at ease engaging in open and honest conversations with greater empathy and understanding towards colleagues. Individually, they described an increased ability to recognise and identify their own sources of eco-anxiety and regulate their emotional response. At a team level this translated into improved communication, a more sustainable way of engaging with complex challenges and better team cohesion.

More broadly, a subtle but meaningful shift occurred: from carrying the emotional weight of their work individually to engaging with it as a shared and collective experience.

This suggests that when approached with nuance and structure, eco-anxiety can move from a source of tension that is not recognised or projected onto others, to a resource for connection, reflection, and more coordinated action.

In conclusion the impact of improving our understanding of eco-anxiety, and working on this can be significant, showing benefits in the following ways:

For The Individual

• Greater emotional clarity (distinguishing guilt from existential anxiety)
• Reduced internal overload and confusion
• Increased capacity to recognise personal limits
• Ability to transform anxiety into concrete, sustainable action
  
  

For The Team

• Improved mutual understanding (different lived experiences of eco-anxiety)
• Increased empathy and psychological safety
• Reduced tension
• Stronger capacity for coordinated action
  
  

For The Organisation

• Ability to name and legitimise emotional impact
• Reduced risk of vicarious stress 
• Greater sustainability of long-term engagement
• Strengthened collective coherence and action
  
  

A Practical Exercise: Mapping Individual and Collective Responses to Eco-Anxiety

To support this process, a simple yet powerful exercise can be introduced within teams.

Objective

To develop awareness of how eco-anxiety manifests in individuals and to transform it into a shared resource for reflection and action.

Structure (Trios, 20 minutes per person)

Participants work in groups of three, rotating roles:

Person A: Sharing

• Share your personal experience related to ecological concerns
• Speak from lived experience (emotions, thoughts, reactions)
• NB: This is a space to be listened to, not analysed
  
  

Person B: Reflecting

• Share what resonated from what you heard
• Identify examples of individual and collective responses
• Use post-its to capture key elements

Person C: Mapping

• Identify the type of response expressed:
  • Moral emotion (e.g., guilt, responsibility, indignation)
  • Existential emotion (e.g., uncertainty, fear, loss of control)
  • Motivation for action (e.g., hope, engagement, collective purpose)
• Organise insights visually (e.g., flipchart or board)

Participants rotate roles until all have shared.

At the end, the group reflects collectively and identifies key insights.

Some Examples of Responses Across the Three Dimensions

Moral Emotion

• Ethical concern about environmental harm
• Guilt or shame about human impact
• Frustration at societal inaction
• Sense of personal responsibility

   

Existential Emotion

• Uncertainty about the future
• Rumination about planetary outcomes
• A feeling of helplessness or loss of control
• Fear related to long-term collapse scenarios

   

Motivation for Collective Action

• Active hope
• Sense of shared purpose
• Solidarity and connection with others
• Engagement in initiatives or projects

Towards More Conscious Organisational Cultures

The ecological crisis calls not only for new strategies, but for a deeper awareness of the human experience within organisations.

Eco-anxiety, when left unrecognised, can fragment teams however when understood, it can connect them.

Developing the capacity to engage with these emotional dynamics is not only a matter of well-being, but also a condition for sustainable and meaningful collective action.

In this sense, working with eco-anxiety becomes part of a broader shift:
from reacting to complexity, to developing the capacity to hold it together.