Introduction: The differential mental health impacts of climate change across populations are increasingly recognised. Yet, theoretical frameworks remain largely underdeveloped regarding how structural inequalities intersect with climate-related distress. The current literature predominantly positions people of colour as victims of the climate crisis, potentially obscuring the nuanced diversity of experiences and meaning-making processes that characterise engagement with climate change among communities of colour.
Purpose: This presentation will outline how Black and South Asian UK residents construct narratives around climate change and mental health; exploring how racial identities influence climate-related sensemaking through associated cultural resources and discursive frameworks. The research interrogates whether dominant theoretical models adequately capture the complexity of racialised climate experiences, particularly the heterogeneous responses that exist beyond vulnerability narratives.
Method: Semi-structured interviews with 22 individuals from Black African, Black Caribbean, and South Asian backgrounds explore climate emotions, mental health impacts, and the role of racial identity in climate change-related meaning-making. The sample includes both recent migrants and established UK residents. Critical discourse analysis will be used to examine linguistic strategies, subject positioning, and ideological assumptions underlying participants' accounts, with particular attention to how cultural resources and racialised experiences shape climate-wellbeing narratives.


Results: Analysis will map discursive repertoires used to construct climate-mental health relationships, examining how participants resist or reproduce dominant narratives. Particular focus will be placed on identifying alternative conceptual frameworks, exploring how cultural resources and collective identities mediate individual climate distress, and examining whether migrant and diasporic heritages generate distinctive climate-wellbeing narratives.
Conclusions: This research aims to expand theoretical understanding of climate mental health beyond vulnerability models, contributing to a more nuanced, culturally-responsive approach to climate psychology that recognises agency and complexity in racialised communities' climate experiences.