How to talk to children about climate change (and books that can help)

Greenwild author Pari Thomson offers advice on how to talk to children about the climate crisis, followed by our choice of conversation-starting children's books about the environment.

With the disastrous effects of climate change regularly hitting the headlines, children are likely to have more questions and worries about the environment and our impact on it than ever before. Pari Thomson, author of the award-winning Greenwild series of eco-thrillers, offers advice on how to navigate this potentially difficult topic with children, followed by our recommendations of books that explore and celebrate the natural world, and ways we can help keep it safe.

Babies and toddlers
Ages 3 – 5
Ages 6 – 8
Ages 9 –12

The climate crisis often feels overwhelming – and it can be challenging to know how to discuss it with children.

The United Nations defines climate change as ‘long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns,’ mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, which generate greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions trap the sun’s heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere, causing the planet to heat up.

Climate scientists have shown that humans are responsible for almost all global warming over the last 200 years – and the consequences feel terrifying. Forest fires, flooding, droughts, melting ice caps and the loss of millions of the astonishing plant and animal species that light up our world with their precise, irrecoverable beauty.

In the face of all this, fear is a rational response. But for a child, silence is often the scariest thing of all. It’s important to talk to children about climate change – and even more important to listen to their worries, questions, and concerns.

‘It’s important to talk to children about climate change – and even more important to listen to their worries, questions, and concerns.’

This opens up a space for genuine conversation, a place where you can remind children that they aren’t responsible for causing the climate crisis – and that the responsibility for fixing it does not fall on them. You might not have all the answers, but what you can do is reassure them that they are safe – and that while there is cause for worry, there is greater cause for hope.

There are so many resourceful and inspiring people who are bending all their wit and ingenuity and bravery towards fighting the climate crisis. There are people fighting deforestation by planting trees, and fighting greenhouse gas emissions by developing renewable resources like solar and wind power. There are people battling to protect our oceans, and to create alternatives to plastic.

If children want to get involved, there are lots of things they can do too, from recycling at home to taking public transport and eating less meat. The most important thing they can do, though, is to keep talking – to their friends, families, teachers . . . and to their governments. Write letters; join marches; put pressure on local MPs. Don’t give up!

And of course, one last thing. We must all keep talking about the sheer, wild wonder of the world around us. Slow down and notice the beauty of a wildflower in a pavement crack, or a brand-new leaf unfurling in spring. Walk under trees and stare into rockpools. Shout about the miraculous, overwhelming beauty of the world – because that is what we have to protect, and that is where our greatest hope lies.