Hello and welcome to a special episode of
Speaking of Psychology, a podcast from the
American Psychological Association that explores
the connections between psychological science
and everyday life.
I’m your host, Kaitlin Luna.
This special episode features a report by
APA’s Kim Mills, who attended the first-ever
International Summit on Psychology’s Contributions
to Global Health in Lisbon, Portugal, in November.
The summit – sponsored by APA and the Association
of Portuguese Psychologists -- brought together
leaders of psychological associations from
more than 40 nations on five continents to
explore ways of applying psychological science
to the global problem of climate change.
The summit kicked off with several psychologists
describing climate change’s impact in their
countries.
Jeanyung Chey, secretary of external affairs
for the Korean Psychological Association,
described how “microdust” is engulfing
the country and noted evidence suggesting
a connection between dementia and exposure
to the fine particles.
Ava Thompson, past president of the Bahamas
Psychological Association, noted the increasing
frequency and power of hurricanes in the Caribbean.
And Brian Dixon, director of scientific issues
for the New Zealand Psychological Society,
described how flooding is devastating his
city and surrounding areas.
We’re a coastal nation and all of our borders
are threatened by increasing sea levels, increasing
storm events.
We also have problems with our glaciers, lakes?
Snowfall, and those are major tourist attractions
for us.
And our food production areas, which are subject
to drought and flooding more frequently than
in the past.
Our territorial realm covers a lot of the
Pacific, which means a large number of climate
change migrants and refugees are likely to
come to our country, which will place a huge
stress on our health systems and mental health
systems and our community resources.
The attendees issued a proclamation committing
each organization to work together on the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal
number 13, which calls for taking action to
combat climate change and its impacts.
They also adopted a resolution committing
them to, among other things, helping people
prepare for and adapt to climate change, even
as psychologists work to change the behaviors
that have caused it.
The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo
de Sousa, addressed the summit, telling attendees
they had chosen the right subject to tackle
first because of the global nature of climate
change.
We must have a global response to it.
There is not a single country, not even a
superpower, that can address alone this issue.
Many of the attendees agreed with the president’s
assessment.
Dr. Christine Roland Levy, president of the
International Association of Applied Psychology
was one:
We really have to be global and take into
account the differences in terms of cultures,
in terms of habits, in terms of global warming
as a whole.
Problems are not always the same.
Focus should be different according to countries.
We need to have the same goal: protect the
planet, make it a better world for the future,
make it a better world for the future generations.
So that’s the main point.
APA CEO Dr. Arthur Evans Junior called the
meeting a landmark for psychology around the
world.
He and Francisco Mirando Rodrigues, president
of the Association of Portuguese Psychologists,
agreed to continue to provide administrative
support to the international associations
after they return home and begin to implement
some of the tactics agreed upon.
These will include a systematic review of
existing research plus new cross-cultural
research, seeking increased funding from government
and philanthropic sources and conducting interdisciplinary
workshops and conferences.
Other ideas that emerged included holding
sessions on climate change at each association’s
annual conference, devoting special journal
issues to the topic, sponsoring publicity
campaigns and training psychologists about
how to change behavior and help people cope
with climate change and climate disasters.
I think people came with some energy and excitement
about the topic but I think people are leaving
with a commitment to work on this issue going
forward.
Not only that, I think we educated each other
both having experts that came into the room
to talk to us but people who had lived experience,
who were in countries that were affected by
climate change and they had an opportunity
to talk about the psychological impact and
toll, and the role that they saw psychology
playing so I think that combination was really
powerful.
Thank-you, Kim Mills, for that interesting
report from the summit in Lisbon.
I hope we will have more to say about psychology
and climate change in the coming months.
For more information about the summit and
to view a video of portions of the meeting,
go tour website, speakingofpsychology.org
You can find previous episodes of Speaking
of Psychology on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also go to speakingofpsychology.org
I’m Kaitlin Luna with the American Psychological
Association.
Thanks for listening.
