Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Parents for Climate, ECOMIND and more than 150 mental health professionals, doctors, educators, researchers, and youth leaders have issued an open letter calling for a national commitment to accurate and psychologically safe climate education in response to growing misinformation suggesting climate science is to blame for rising anxiety in children.
In May 2025, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), a conservative think tank with funding ties to major oil and gas companies, released a report claiming climate education is distressing children and should be scaled back or removed from Australian schools.
In response, the open letter, published today, argues that it is not climate science education that is causing distress, but the lived experience of climate change itself, and the failure of leaders to act.
"Accurate, developmentally appropriate and psychologically safe climate science education, not climate silence, is the solution," said Georgia Monaghan, Co-Founder of ECOMIND, an organisation focused on youth climate mental health resilience.
The IPA's claims are not only misleading but are part of a broader strategy to delay climate action by shifting public attention to despair, distraction and denial. This rhetoric, linking climate education to youth mental health harm, has recently appeared in Australian politics, echoing narratives emerging in the United States. Newspaper headlines have included: "Net Zero alarmism is causing mental illness and destroying the childhoods of our teenagers".
"This agenda distorts the reality of climate education, and the emotional experiences of young people, while serving a broader agenda of climate delay and distraction."
Young people themselves are, in fact, asking for more education on climate change to improve their knowledge and resilience.
"Avoiding the topic, rather than explaining climate impacts, can lead to greater confusion, fear and anxiety, and even a sense of betrayal by older generations."
The open letter signatories offer a solution - a vision for climate education that empowers rather than overwhelms. The signatories argue that while current school curricula are underdeveloped, the solution is climate education that is accurate, holistic and psychologically safe. The letter outlines a vision for age-appropriate climate education that provides facts, tools, and, importantly, hope.
"Children growing up today are on the front line of climate change impacts. What young people need is the knowledge, emotional resilience and support to weather the climate reality. It is also what they want.
"Let's deliver safe climate science, not climate silence," Miss Monaghan said.
