In the face of escalating climate change and environmental degradation, a profound sense of despair has taken root in many people’s hearts and minds. This despair is not just about the data or the dire predictions; it’s deeply existential, touching on feelings of helplessness and questions about the future of humanity and our planet. Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th-century philosopher, explored existential despair in his work, offering insights that are surprisingly relevant to today’s climate anxiety.

Kierkegaard’s existential framework centres on the individual’s relationship with themselves and the larger existential realities—namely, those concerning meaning, responsibility, and future possibilities. In his seminal work “The Sickness Unto Death,” Kierkegaard discusses despair as the sickness of the soul, which arises not from lacking something, but from being unable to reconcile one’s self with the self one wants to be. In terms of climate anxiety, this can be understood as the despair of recognising the discrepancy between the world as it is (with its environmental challenges) and the world as one feels it ought to be.

For many today, confronting climate change is not just about scientific understanding or policy debates; it’s about confronting a potential existential void. What does it mean to make plans for the future when such a future is uncertain? How do we find meaning in actions when the global scale of the problem seems insurmountable?

Kierkegaard teaches us that confronting such despair is not about finding immediate solutions but about enduring it and finding meaning through it. His notion of the “leap of faith” is particularly poignant. This leap is not about blind faith in an unseen outcome but about committing oneself to action in the face of uncertainty. In the context of climate change, this might mean taking personal and collective actions to mitigate environmental impact, not because success is guaranteed, but because it aligns with a deeply held value about stewardship of the earth.

Moreover, Kierkegaard’s emphasis on personal responsibility can transform feelings of helplessness into a motivated agency. By recognising that each individual’s choices contribute to a larger pattern, one can see personal action against climate change not as futile but as part of a collective movement towards sustainability. Every choice to reduce one’s carbon footprint, every decision to support sustainable practices, and every effort to raise awareness counts in shaping the ethos of a community or society.

The existential challenge, then, is not to eradicate anxiety or despair but to live authentically within it. For Kierkegaard, authenticity comes from embracing one’s freedom to choose—even under uncertain conditions—and from striving to become a self that one can affirm and be responsible for. In the era of climate anxiety, this may mean embracing both our limits and our potential to influence the environment positively.

In conclusion, while Kierkegaard never faced climate change, his existential framework offers valuable tools for understanding and navigating the despair that often accompanies it. By framing climate anxiety within this existential perspective, individuals can find not only the courage to act but also a deeper sense of purpose in their actions. The existential quest for authenticity and responsibility, as Kierkegaard envisioned, might just be what is needed to foster a more hopeful and proactive stance towards the global environmental crisis.