World Environment Day June 5, 2026
Psychological Health Depends on Planetary Health

Download as a PDF

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) has been represented as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and has held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 1991. This statement was approved by SPSSI's Executive Committee on June 1, 2026 and does not represent the views of the APA or any of its divisions or subunits.

For fifty-four years, June 5th has been a day for global celebration of the wonders of our planet and encourage actionable steps toward environmental preservation and protection.

As members of the SPSSI UN NGO team, we highlight the crucial role of interdisciplinary and international collaboration in addressing the climate crisis. Indeed, the UN 2016-2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Agenda for Transforming Our World ranks "Partnerships" as the final sustainable development goal, because partnerships provide the critical means for facilitating achievement of transformative change. Psychologists are key contributors to these partnerships through their interdisciplinary collaboration toward effective climate adaptation and mitigation at the local, national, regional, and global levels. Below, we highlight some of the critical areas in need of further collaborative investment to make progress on understanding and reducing environmental exposures, risks, harms, and damages toward humans.

Scale Up Research on Brain Health and Environmental Toxins

Environmental exposures, such as excessive heat, polluted air, and contaminated water, are increasingly recognized as threats to brain health across the lifespan. Excessive heat has been linked to worsening neurological outcomes, particularly among older adults and other vulnerable populations (Byun et al., 2024). Exposure to particulate matter has similarly been associated with adverse effects on development, altered brain structure, and dementia risk (de Prado Bert et al., 2018; Rogowski et al., 2025). Chronic exposure to contaminants in drinking water, such as metals and industrial chemicals, may contribute to neurological and neuropsychiatric harm, especially through long-term low-dose exposures that remain insufficiently studied (Bondy & Campbell, 2017). Together, this evidence underscores the urgent need to scale up investigations of brain health as a function of environmental exposures through stronger international and interdisciplinary collaboration. We need enhanced monitoring systems, longitudinal studies, culturally informed assessment tools, and greater inclusion of communities facing environmental injustice. Psychologists have a vital role to play in measuring cognitive, emotional, and behavioral correlates of brain health; identifying resilience factors; and helping translate scientific evidence into prevention. Protecting planetary health must include protecting brain health, which involves a collaboration among psychologists, neurologists, epidemiologists, and public health policymakers.

Accelerate Research on the Impact of Environmental Pollution on Cognition

Environmental pollutants are well established drivers of physical illness (Shetty et al, 2023). A growing body of research now shows how water, soil, air, and noise pollution also represent significant threats to cognitive functioning. Chronic exposure to environmental noise, for example, has been associated with hearing impairment as well as impairments in attention, memory, and learning outcomes (Basner et al., 2014; Clark & Paunovic, 2018). In addition to concerns about loud noise, the low frequency noise generated from a growing number of data and other industrial centers is difficult to block and interferes with individuals' ability to sleep or enjoy being outside (Berglund et al., 1996).  Those who report more 'noise annoyance' from low frequency noise are at an increased risk of mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety (Gong, et al., 2022). Heavy metals, such as lead and arsenic found in soil and water, are associated with reproductive problems, cancers, and liver damage. They also have been found to impair cognitive development, reduce general intelligence scores, and disrupt executive functioning (Ramírez Ortega et al., 2021; Tian et al, 2025). These cognitive impacts are often cumulative and disproportionately affect lower income and more marginalized populations, reinforcing existing inequities (e.g., Marshall et al., 2020). Assessment of cognitive impact, therefore, needs to be systematically integrated into environmental and health monitoring systems and policy frameworks. International and interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to assess impacts, design interventions, and educate the public about how to protect cognitive health in the face of environmental change.

Expand Understanding of Social Impacts on Communities and Social Relations

Climate change not only alters our physical world, but it also tears at the social fabric of communities. Extreme weather events, rising seas, prolonged droughts, and land degradation are forcing millions of people to leave their homes, fracturing families, dissolving longstanding community bonds, and deepening social inequalities (Levy et al., 2024). As of 2024, over 90 million forcibly displaced people are living in countries with high-to-extreme climate hazard exposure (United Nations High Commission on Refugees, 2024), and projections warn that, without urgent action, 200 million people could require humanitarian assistance annually by 2050 due to climate impacts alone. Critically, those who suffer most are often least able to migrate; thus, the poorest and most marginalized communities remain trapped in harm's way without the resources to relocate (Cottier et al., 2025). The climate crisis is also driving alarming increases in gender-based violence: a 2025 United Nations report found that for every 1°C rise in global temperature, intimate partner violence increases by 4.7% (Spotlight Initiative, 2025). The most vulnerable include women and girls in frontline communities, particularly those who are Indigenous or live in poverty or conflict-affected areas (Spotlight Initiative, 2025). Yet, our knowledge of these devastating social consequences remains largely incomplete. Vulnerable communities bearing the heaviest burdens, such as those in informal settlements, remote rural areas, and regions of the Global South, are systematically left out of the research that shapes policy and resource allocation. Data collection tools and methods vary so widely across countries that meaningful comparisons are difficult. Psychologists, working alongside sociologists, public health researchers, and community organizations, have an essential role to play in developing culturally grounded, inclusive, and community-led methods to understand these harms. Investing in research that reaches the hardest-to-reach, centers the voices and leadership of frontline communities, and captures the full social toll of the climate crisis is not a technical priority anymore: It is fundamentally an issue of equity and justice.

Advance Research on Climate Distress and Community Resilience

The climate crisis can seem distressingly insurmountable, and it is rational and constructive to experience distress from exposure to harms and the genuine threats of the climate crisis. The impact of the environmental degradation and harms on the health and well-being of individuals is complex, and our understanding is evolving. Sustainable Development Goal 3 focuses on both good health and well-being, and psychologists are leading efforts to explore, quantify with reliable and valid measures, and reduce the profound mental health consequences of climate change on individuals worldwide (Clayton et al., 2021). The gold-standard consensus report on the status of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change report, highlighted the pernicious impacts of climate change on people’s mental health for the first time in 2022 (Harper et al., 2022). Still, the psychological impacts of climate change have failed to receive sufficient attention. A majority of young people from ten countries around the world reported feeling afraid, sad, anxious, powerless, helpless, and guilty when they thought about climate change (Hickman et al., 2021). Moreover, this study found that young people's climate anxiety was tied to the belief that their governments have betrayed them and are not taking sufficient action. Young people's fear for their futures and belief that the social contract between them and their governments has been broken needs to be addressed, with greater study of how we might channel our distress and dread in potentially adaptive coping and resilient ways to motivate and sustain action (Heeren & Clayton, 2026). Greater training, outreach, and financial investments are needed at the local, national, and regional levels to provide mental health services and build community resilience. Such efforts should address the needs of communities facing the acute and lasting traumas from environmental harms and from anticipating future environmental exposures and harms (Gray et al., 2021; Ojala et al., 2021). Psychologists, psychiatrists, public health specialists, educators, sociologists, and policy makers are among the interdisciplinary circle of collaborators needed to accelerate these efforts.  

Strengthen Climate Policy, Literacy, and Inclusive Implementation

Partnerships with educators at all levels are needed to strengthen best practices for educating young people and communities about climate change. Climate literacy, which includes skills for adaptation and mitigation that ensures meaningful participation from frontline and vulnerable communities, is needed.  A survey of 88 countries' science and social studies curriculum found that, while climate change and sustainability are mentioned at least once in about 66% of the curricula studied, it was often covered superficially (Benavot & McKenzie, 2026). Teaching the facts of climate change may exacerbate feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness; therefore, climate change education needs to go beyond the mere transmission of relevant content about the scope of the problem. To transform climate anxiety into constructive coping that promotes pro-environmental behavior, Olsen et al. (2024) emphasize that educational interventions should integrate scientific understanding ("heads"), emotional processing ("hearts"), and actionable engagement ("hands").  Teachers, however, report that they are unsure how best to help students handle emotions surrounding discussions of climate change; therefore, providing resources and training for teachers is a necessary and ongoing part of strengthening climate change education (Verlie et al., 2020). Psychological research is needed to design and test the effectiveness of age-appropriate curricula that can foster resilience and constructive coping strategies.  Done well, climate change education can boost people’s perception of action efficacy to curb the climate crisis, correct misperceptions on which climate actions are the most effective, and increase commitments to engage in more effective climate behavior among adults (Goldwert et al., 2025). Research demonstrates benefits of climate education on motivating sustainable action among cohorts as young as 5-6 years old (Kumar et al., 2023).  Beyond school curriculum, climate change education and climate disaster preparedness needs to be advanced in communities at large. Participatory action research, in which researchers partner with community members to identify local concerns and formulate local solutions, will promote a community's capacity to mitigate environmental harm, improve scientific knowledge, and promote climate justice (Trott et al., 2026). Psychologists’ role in climate change education remains under-realized; therefore, we call for more psychologists to join the interdisciplinary collaboration on improving climate change education in schools and the broader community (Ramírez et al., 2025).

Why June 5th?
June 5th was the first day of the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, which led to the establishment of the United Nations Environmental Program and the yearly commemoration of World Environment Day.

Acknowledgements: This statement was prepared by members of the SPSSI UN NGO Team and Expert Affiliates including Turhan Canli, Suzanne Yates, Meroona Gopang, Sheri R. Levy, Anni Sternisko, and Luisa Ramírez.

How to Cite this Statement: Canli, T., Yates, S., Gopang, M., Levy, S.R., Sternisko, A., Ramírez, L. (2026). World Environment Day June 5, 2026: Psychological Health Depends on Planetary Health. Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

Disclaimer: This statement is intended to represent the members of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Division 9 of the American Psychological Association. It does not necessarily represent the American Psychological Association or any of its divisions or subgroups.

References

Basner, M., Babisch, W., Davis, A., et al. (2014) Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise and health. The Lancet, 383, 1325-1332.

Benavot, A., & McKenzie, M. (2026). Climate change and sustainability in science and social science primary school curricula. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

Berglund, B., Hassmen, P., & Soames Job, R. (1996). Sources and effects of low-frequency noise.  Acoust. Soc. Am. 99(5), 2985-3002. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61613-X

Bondy, S. C., & Campbell, A. (2017). Water quality and brain function. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010002

Byun, G., Choi, Y., Foo, D., Stewart, R., Song, Y., Son, J.-Y., Heo, S., Ning, X., Clark, C., Kim, H., Choi, H. M., Kim, S., Kim, S.-Y., Burrows, K., Lee, J.-T., Deziel, N. C., & Bell, M. L. (2024). Effects of ambient temperature on mental and neurological conditions in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 194, 109166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109166

Clark, C., & Paunovic, K. (2018). Who environmental noise guidelines for the European region: A systematic review on environmental noise and quality of life, wellbeing and mental health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15112400

Clayton, S., Manning, C. M., Speiser, M., & Hill, A. N. (2021). Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, Responses. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/mental-health-climate-change.pdf

Cottier, F., Kruczkiewicz, A., Hultquist, C., Tuholske, C., & Benveniste, H. (2025). Prioritizing involuntary immobility in climate policy and disaster planning. Nature Communications, 16, 2581. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57679-9

de Prado Bert, P., Mercader, E. M. H., Pujol, J., Sunyer, J., & Mortamais, M. (2018). The effects of air pollution on the brain: A review of studies interfacing environmental epidemiology and neuroimaging. Current Environmental Health Reports, 5(3), 351–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-018-0209-9

Goldwert, D., Patel, Y., Nielsen, K. S., Goldberg, M. H., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). Climate action literacy interventions increase commitments to more effective mitigation behaviors. PNAS nexus, 4(6), pgaf191.

Gong, X., Fenech, B., Blackmore, C., Chen, Y., Rodgers, G., Gulliver, J., & Hansell, A. L. (2022). Association between Noise Annoyance and Mental Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 2696. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052696

Gray, B., Eaton, J., Christy, J., Duncan, J., Hanna, F., & Kasi, S. (2021). A proactive approach: Examples for integrating disaster risk reduction and mental health and Psychosocial Support Programming. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 54, 102051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102051

Harper, S., Cunsolo, A., & Clayton, S. (2022). Including mental health as part of climate change impacts and adaptation assessment: A critical advance in IPCC AR6. PLOS Climate, 1(5): e0000033. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000033

Heeren, A., & Clayton, S. (2026). Searching for the Goldilocks zone of climate anxiety. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 30(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.11.007

Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00278-

Kumar, P., Sahani, J., Rawat, N., Debele, S., Tiwari, A., Emygdio, A. P. M., ... & Pfautsch, S. (2023). Using empirical science education in schools to improve climate change literacy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 178, 113232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113232

Levy, S.R., Gopang, M.., Ramírez, L., Bernardo, A.B.I., Ruck, M.D., & Sternisko-, A. (2024). A Human Rights Based Approach to Climate Injustices at the Local, National, and International Levels: Program and Policy Recommendations. Social Issues and Policy Review, 18(1), 3-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12103

Marshall, A. T., Betts, S., Kan, E. C., McConnell, R., Lanphear, B. P., & Sowell, E. R. (2020). Association of lead-exposure risk and family income with childhood brain outcomes. Nature Medicine, 26(1), 91-97.

Ojala, M., Cunsolo, A., Ogunbode, C. A., & Middleton, J. (2021). Anxiety, worry, and grief in a time of environmental and climate crisis: A narrative review. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46(1), 35–58.

Olsen, E. K., Lawson, D. F., McClain, L. R., & Plummer, J. D. (2024). Heads, hearts, and hands: a systematic review of empirical studies about eco/climate anxiety and environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 30(12), 2131–2158. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2315572

Ramírez, L., Levy, S.R., Barbosa, S., Bottin, M., Ocampo, J.G., Cadavid, S., Pizzao, A.B., & Quesada, B. (2025). A Call for Greater Collaborative Role from Psychology in Climate Change Education Interventions Focused on Children/Youth. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000408

Ramírez Ortega, D., González Esquivel, D. F., Blanco Ayala, T., Pineda, B., Gómez Manzo, S., Marcial Quino, J., Carrillo Mora, P., & Pérez de la Cruz, V. (2021). Cognitive Impairment Induced by Lead Exposure during Lifespan: Mechanisms of Lead Neurotoxicity. Toxics, 9(2), 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9020023

Rogowski, C. B. B., Bredell, C., Shi, Y., Tien-Smith, A., Szybka, M., Fung, K. W., Hong, L., Phillips, V., Andersen, Z. J., Sharp, S. J., Woodcock, J., Brayne, C., Navaratnam, A., & Khreis, H. (2025). Long-term air pollution exposure and incident dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Planetary Health, 9(7), e101266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(25)00118-4.

Shetty, S. S., Deepthi, D., Harshitha, D., Sonkusare, S., Naik, P. B., Kumari N, S., & Madhyastha, H. (2023). Environmental pollutants and their effects on human health. Heliyon, 9(9), e19496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19496

Spotlight Initiative. (2025). Colliding crises: How the climate crisis fuels gender-based violence. United Nations. https://www.spotlightinitiative.org/sites/default/files/publication/2025-04/Colliding%20Crises%20How%20the%20climate%20crisis%20fuels%20gender-based%20violence_0.pdf

Tian, Y., Hou, Q., Zhang, M., Gao, E., Wu, Y. (2025) Exposure to arsenic and cognitive impairment in children: A systematic review. PLoS ONE 20(2): e0319104. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319104

Trott, C. D., Shepherd-Reyes, E. M., Lam, S., Lusnak, A., & Dreher, C. (2026). Community-led climate resilience at the neighborhood scale: Examining multi-level impacts of a participatory planning process. npj Climate Action, 5, Article 49. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00359-1

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2024). How climate change impacts refugees and displaced communities. UNHCR. htttps://www.unrefugees.org/news/how-climate-change-impacts-refugees-and-displaced-communities/

Verlie, B., Clark, E., Jarrett, T., & Supriyono, E. (2020). Educators’ experiences and strategies for responding to ecological distress. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 37(2), 132–146. doi:10.1017/aee.2020.34

Back to SPSSI Statements