Addressing the climate crisis: An action plan for psychologists (summary)

Abstract

Psychologists have conducted valuable work on the climate crisis and can make even greater contributions to understanding the crisis, mitigating and adapting to climate change, and achieving climate justice. This summary of the report from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Task Force on Climate Change examines the multiple roles psychologists play in research, practice, education, advocacy, and communications related to the climate crisis and how APA can facilitate expansion of psychologists’ work in these domains. The task force recommends that APA pursue a set of activities that will both (a) strengthen the field by encouraging a larger number of psychologists, across all specializations, to work on climate change, and (b) broaden the impact of psychologists’ work on climate change by supporting their engagement and collaborations with other fields and sectors. Further, the task force offers recommendations for how APA can help mitigate climate change by improving its own energy use and sustainability practices and encouraging improvements by other organizations and the public.