Trillions of dollars lost in worker productivity due to these factors, study finds

Nature and climate anxieties might soon predict social behaviors similarly to how consumer sentiment forecasts purchasing and investment patterns.

This intriguing suggestion comes from Professor Emeritus Ralf Buckley of Griffith University, in a preview of an article led by Professor Thomas Pienkowski in the UK, published in the Cell Press journal One Earth.

Professor Buckley references the Global Burden of Disease Study, highlighting the widespread and worsening issue of anxiety and depression. "Economic costs are up to 16% of global GDP, with 19 days per year on average lost for every person worldwide," he stated. He attributes this rise in mental health issues to various causes, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and livelihood crises.

Despite the challenges presented by current global threats, including antimicrobial resistance and climate change, the GBD 2021 study offers a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future of global health, advocating for evidence-based strategies to mitigate risks and enhance health outcomes.

Professor Pienkowski’s article emphasizes that current health-sector responses, such as counseling and chemotherapies, only address symptoms rather than the underlying social determinants. According to Buckley, "Anxiety and its economic costs will therefore keep growing until we can achieve major changes in global economic and political systems."

Buckley proposes using the current levels of eco-anxiety to gauge people's expectations for the planet's future. He suggests that higher anxiety levels might lead to more people adopting 'lie-flat' lifestyles, characterized by having fewer children and lower financial ambitions.

He explains, "Lie-flat social changes at large scale are just what is needed to reduce human impacts on the Earth, before it is incapable of supporting its still-growing human population."

Tracking changes in eco-anxiety and correlating them with lifestyle choices could provide insights into potential societal shifts. By doing so, it might be possible to predict the types of changes that could occur among billions of people worldwide.



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