Meet Me in the Middle: A Scoping Review on Understanding Adolescent Needs in Climate Communication

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on communicating climate change issues with adolescents and identifying key characteristics or factors for success, particularly to facilitate climate action, and provides best practices to support adolescents to communicate their own messages on climate change as a potentially important avenue to engage youth action. The review includes peer-reviewed articles and gray literature focused on contextualizing adolescent development, best practices to work with youth/adolescents, and research on climate change education. The distinct social and neurodevelopmental stage of adolescents should be taken into consideration when communicating with youth on climate change and encouraging activism to harness their strengths and minimize their vulnerabilities. Climate change education should go beyond relaying facts and provide opportunities to support youth agency and action to transform perspectives. This review provides a practical synthesis of current information to foster successful climate communication for and by youth, and highlighting additional areas for further research