In this week's episode I am discussing how climate anxiety is not the problem. I will explore how we educate, support and practice in a time of climate breakdown without overwhelming young people or asking them to numb themselves to reality.

Topics include:

• Climate anxiety is not the problem; unsupported climate anxiety is.
• Climate education cannot just give young people facts — it has to help them emotionally metabolise what they know.
• Emotional literacy needs to include the body, not just naming feelings.
• Adults and teachers need to do their own emotional work, otherwise they may shut down young people’s grief, anger or fear.
• Climate anxiety can be a sign of care, intelligence and relationship with the world, not pathology.
• The “Goldilocks zone” is really useful: enough feeling to care and act, not so much that people collapse.
• Climate breakdown risk-benefit assessment feels like one of your most original contributions.
• The neutrality/politics section is one of the most interesting: teachers do not need to be party-political, but silence and false balance are not neutral.
• Resilience should be framed as community, belonging and collective capacity, not individual toughness.
• Nature connection is not just a well-being add-on; it is part of repairing the relationship that created the crisis.
• The ending around possible futures, imagination and agency is important because it offers hope without false reassurance.

Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com