Today I’m speaking with Jessica Newberry Le Vay, Senior Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and part of Climate Cares - a global initiative based at Oxford and Imperial College London, working to understand and respond to the links between climate change, mental health and wellbeing.

Jessica leads the Compass Project, a research programme exploring how climate change education can be integrated with mental health and wellbeing, so that young people are better supported to live, work and thrive in a changing climate. Before joining Oxford, Jessica worked at Imperial College London as a Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow with Climate Cares, and previously led Cancer Research UK’s policy research programme on cancer prevention.

In this episode:

• Jessica describes climate change and mental health as two deeply connected crises, because how we feel shapes how we respond.
• The conversation centres on the Compass Project, which looks at how students and educators experience climate education and climate emotions.
• Jessica shares that many young people feel anxiety, fear, anger, grief, hopelessness or betrayal in response to climate breakdown.
• She highlights research showing that 59% of young people surveyed globally were very or extremely worried about climate change.
• More than 45% of those young people said their climate feelings were affecting daily life, including sleep, eating, school and relationships.
• Jessica explains that climate anxiety is often a rational, healthy and caring response, rather than something to simply remove or fix.
• Marina and Jessica explore how unspoken emotions can affect mental health, especially when young people do not feel able to share what they are carrying.
• Teachers are also experiencing climate worry, while often feeling under-resourced, under-trained and unsure how to hold these conversations.
• The episode explores the need to help young people hold fear and hope together, rather than avoiding difficult truths.
• Jessica discusses how misinformation, social media and stigma can make it harder for young people to talk openly about climate change and action.
• The conversation questions whether climate education can ever be politically neutral, especially when climate impacts are shaped by injustice, power and systems.

Shownotes:

https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/teach-climate-change-without-overwhelming-young-people/

Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com

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Mentioned in this episode:

The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026

Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery