Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cultivating Resilience, Taking Action, and Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate Change

by Elizabeth Bechard

Parenting in a changing climate requires exactly this: that we embrace the messiness and complexity of the situation we’re in, and that we walk through uncharted territory with open hearts. Those of us raising young children in the coming decade will be doing so in a climate that is both literally and figuratively different than the parenting climate of any previous generation. The years that we’ll be watching our children learn to walk, talk, read, and ride bicycles are the same years that climate scientists tell us we have an urgent mandate to stop carbon emissions and preserve what biodiversity is left on the planet. If we don’t look honestly at the climate crisis and allow ourselves to feel our full range of emotions about it, we also won’t have full access to our capacity to be part of creative, imperfect solutions, or to cultivate authentic resilience. We can’t afford to lose that—and neither can our children.