June 3rd 2022: Panel discussion powered by Emex and held at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai

What’s the point in me studying anything? Why should I be thinking about going to university when I don’t know that I’ll be able to get a job, or even live in a world where there are jobs anymore?’

When Dubai-based mother Tatiana Antonelli-Abella’s middle son expressed himself like this at the age of 11, she knew she had to take it seriously.

As the founder of Goumbook – a social enterprise dedicated to sustainability and green living in the UAE and beyond – Tatiana has spent years spurring people into action against climate change and warning about the seriousness of the consequences if we don’t.

And, as a mother of three boys (now aged seven, 14 and 16), sustainability permeated every aspect of her parenting, so it was a message she naturally passed down to her children – through their weekly family beach clean-ups, the fact that they were never allowed to use plastic bags or straws, and their participation in regular desert-tree-planting activities, among many other things.

But on hearing this sense of doom and gloom from her middle son – the ‘sensitive one’, who was perhaps more affected by her rallying cries than her other children – Tatiana realised that her awareness-raising had gone too far.

‘To begin with it was just silence and sad faces and not wanting to come to the tree plantings or listen to my information about climate change and sustainability anymore,’ she says. ‘It seemed they had just had enough of worrying about the state of the planet.

‘I didn’t understand at first and I thought they were just bored. But when my middle son, the one who tends to be more open emotionally, explained to me how depressing they found the whole topic of global warming and its negative impact, how it made them sad and feel as if they couldn’t do anything about it, I realised I needed to change the way I was talking about it and what I was allowing them to be exposed to.’

Global Phenomenon

There’s a name for this sense of hopelessness Tatiana describes in her children, and it’s a swiftly rising phenomenon that’s worrying parents and psychologists across the globe.

‘Eco-anxiety’ is a serious new condition gripping young people all over the world, leaving them panicky, terrified, and depressed about climate change and the future of planet Earth.

New research by medical journal The Lancet suggests that our efforts to raise kids’ awareness about sustainability have been so effective that they’ve led to a chronic fear of environmental doom that is negatively impacting teens’ and children’s ability to live their lives.

A 2021 survey of 10,000 children and young people (aged 16–25 years) in ten countries (Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and the USA) found that more than 45 per cent of them felt their worries about climate change negatively affect their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change. A staggering 75 per cent said that they think the future is frightening and 83 per cent said that they think older generations have failed to take care of the planet.

Inspired and spurred on by climate-change-activism poster girl Greta Thunberg – who first hit headlines in 2018 at the age of 15 when she protested with a sign saying ‘School Strike for Climate Change’ outside the Swedish parliament, prompting more than 20,000 students across the world to skip school in solidarity – many young people are under pressure to act, but feel they are powerless to do so.

As a result, they’re being overwhelmed by guilt, fear and ultimately depression – or apathy, caused by the belief that it’s too late to make a difference anymore. The indifference of older generations and the inaction from governments also creates a sense of betrayal and abandonment. Add to this the growing awareness and news coverage of the climate crisis across the world – including the publication of panic-inducing research like the April 2022 United Nations report, in which scientists state that carbon emissions are at an emergency level and ‘the world is on a “fast track” to disaster’ – and it’s little wonder that children’s and teens’ anxiety is growing.

Taking Eco-anxiety seriously

First described by the American Psychiatric Association in 2017, recognition of Eco-anxiety and its complex psychological responses is increasing, as is its disproportionate impact on young people.

Professor Mala Rao and Richard Powell, both members of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London in the UK, say the true burden of Eco-anxiety’s costs and consequences has yet to be estimated, but is likely to be significant and potentially damaging to individuals and society.

‘Evidence points to a clear relation between experiencing climate change effects [such as floods, droughts and climate-change impacts on physical health, such as heat-related stress, asthma, allergies and vector-borne illness] and the increased risks of depression, low mood, extreme mental distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, and further deterioration in those with a history of mental illness,’ say Rao and Powell.

A young person’s problem? 

‘Eco-anxiety is not a clinical diagnosis but refers to anxiety, sometimes acute, related to fears about the environment and climate change,’ explains Dr Rose Logan, clinical psychologist at Genesis Healthcare Center in Dubai.

While we can all identify with the fear of climate change to some extent, it’s Generation Z and their future offspring who are really staring down the barrel of the climate change gun.

‘Young people tend to be aware of the potential outcomes and consequences of climate change and environmental issues and fear what that means for them and their futures,’ she says. ‘In essence, all anxiety is the same. What differentiates Eco-anxiety from other types of anxiety is the focus of the individual’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours on topics relating to climate and environmental issues – something that can be hard to avoid when it’s all over the news, in the media and often what everyone is talking about.

Dr Logan says she has come across several cases of Eco-anxiety in her own practice in Dubai – usually in younger teenagers. ‘They may present with a passion for the environment and nature which is healthy and well informed. It then becomes apparent that there is a fear driving their interest and causing them anxiety.’

The Eco-Anxiety Icon

Perhaps the most famous victim of Eco-anxiety is Greta Thunberg herself. Before embarking on her school-strike activism, her father Svante Thunberg told the BBC she suffered from depression for several years, stopped talking, going to school and began refusing to eat.

Greta’s parents helped her through it by researching climate change with her, making changes in their own lives (like no longer flying and becoming vegan), and ultimately allowing her to become the public-eye campaigner that she was set on being, despite their reservations.

While Mr Thunberg says Greta has become ‘very happy’ as a result of her activism, not every Eco-anxiety sufferer is able dedicate their lives to the climate-change cause in the same way.

Megan Morgan, 25, who was born and raised in England, told France 24 that she remembers dealing with difficult emotions prompted by climate change as early as age seven. ‘One day, a team came in to talk about climate change, landfills filling up and ice caps melting. That was the moment I became aware of my own mortality. It was an earth-shattering moment for me.’

After that day, Morgan experienced an onset of panic attacks. ‘Every time it rained or flooded I would be inconsolable,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t even hear the words ‘global warming’ without having a sinking feeling.’

Today Morgan still suffers from climate anxiety but she says it feels more like stress. What she struggles with the most, though, is feeling helpless. ‘Sure I can use a metal straw, eat vegan or make ethical choices when shopping. But compared to oil being poured into the oceans, it’s a minuscule effort. There’s no accountability, no change made.’

Eco awareness versus Eco-anxiety 

All of this brings us to tricky situation. Given the seriousness of the climate crisis, many parents and educators feel they have a responsibility to teach children about the topic. But how can we do this without causing undue worry that could turn into harmful anxiety?

‘We should absolutely not shy away from education and information around the environment,’ Dr Rose Logan explains. ‘Providing this in an age-appropriate manner is the primary consideration.

‘It is important to also offer information to show where there are successes and incorporate problem solving and creative projects so that children and young people feel they can affect change around the issue. Otherwise it is easy for children and young people to feel powerless in these situations, which may increase their anxiety.’

Focusing on the constructive side of the conversation is exactly what Tatiana decided to do with her own children.

‘I realised they’d been hearing too much about the climate crisis from me at home. I needed to show them the positive aspects, the good news, that there are amazing technologies and people investing millions in solutions.’

Tatiana’s efforts have paid off and her sons’ Eco-anxiety has reduced to more moderate, manageable levels. Her children are now not only engaged in the sustainability conversation in a more healthy way, but in some ways have become more ‘radical’ than her.

She says her oldest son has decided he doesn’t want to learn to drive a car due to the carbon footprint, and all three of her boys are quick to refuse plastic straws with a drink in a restaurant, or to pick up rubbish if they spot it on the beach.

Instead of apathy and reluctance, or paralysing anxiety, they are engaged in the solution. Tatiana says: ‘Now they are very glad and proud when they see the whole world waking up to the cause, and bigger campaigns starting, and governments taking action,’ says Tatiana. ‘They realise the bigger purpose.’

How to spot the signs of Eco-anxiety? 

• Disrupted sleep
• Changes to behaviour
• Somatic (physical) symptoms.
• A preoccupation with subjects relating the environment
• Excessive fear about the future of the planet and issues such as the accessibility of adequate food and water.

How to help an Eco-anxious child 

• Create an open conversation about their fears. Allow them to share their thoughts and ask questions.
• Help them to find reliable and age-appropriate resources to consult and interact with such as web sites or organisations promoting environmental awareness and action.
• If you are still concerned about your child or their anxiety is impacting their functioning, seek professional help from a psychologist or counsellor.

Does Your Child Have Eco Anxiety?This article was first published by Holly Catling for The Ethicalist

Goumbook is proud to be the Strategic Partner and Trusted Sustainability Expert of the newly launched Dubai Can,  a sustainability initiative by His Highness the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Dubai Can aims to protect the environment by reducing the use of single-use plastic water bottles all across the city.

• Every UAE resident uses 450 plastic water bottles on average per year, leading to yearly consumption of over 4 billion plastic bottles
• 8.3billion tons of plastic were produced in the UAE in2019
• By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans
• A staggering 91% of all plastics are not recycled at all
• Plastic waste kills 1.1 million marine creatures annually

The key objective of Dubai Can is to create a change in culture and behaviour by championing a citywide “reduce single-use plastic bottles” movement to ensure that we make a positive impact on the environment. This will be achieved by promoting the use of refillable water bottles and water filters every day in offices or homes, and using the free drinking water fountains all across the city.

Goumbook has been working hand in hand with government entities, corporates and individuals during the last 6 years to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution in our health and the environment, and helping corporations to transition to a plastic-free operation.

Contact us if you want to join this movement and need help with implementing solutions and best practices.

Join the Movement!

Everyone can and should make a difference. Your actions are an important contribution.

As the mitigation and adaptation to climate change have become a global imperative, the UAE, a country that produces 3% of the world’s oil, was the first GCC country to announce a net-zero pledge, committing to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and to invest 600 billion dirhams in clean and renewable energy, while submitting a bid to host COP 28 in Abu Dhabi. These transformational plans are expected to drive economic growth, and thus job creation, analysts expect. While the country’s plans to boost its crude oil output capabilities are still ongoing, the UAE is keen on growing and investing in sustainability and being part of the global energy transition.

The five LinkedIn Top Voices amplify the conversation around the different topics of sustainability, including. While they come from different backgrounds and careers paths, all our Top Voices share the common goal of reversing climate change.

Follow these five thought leaders to stay up to date with the trending news and conversations shaping sustainability agendas.

Top Voices is a series of lists that have been editorially curated by the LinkedIn News team, which highlight the creators to follow who are writing and sharing about today’s important workplace, career and industry topics.

Check out this year’s #LinkedInTopVoices Green — and follow them to stay plugged into the conversation.

What she talks about: As the UAE’s permanent representative at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Nawal talks about the scientific realities of climate change, and shares her opinion pieces on the country’s net-zero journey. In her podcast ‘On Renewables,’ she chats with her guests about access to sustainable energy, hosting global experts to discuss policy plans and other sustainability questions.

Follow Nawal Al-Hosany

What she talks about: Tatiana is an environmental advocate, the founder and managing director of Goumbook, a startup that manages sustainability and green-living projects and campaigns. Her posts cover several subjects, like the needed collective action in the GCC to reduce carbon footprints, and raising awareness around sustainability campaigns. She also shares her engagement and insights from the startup ecosystem.

Follow Tatiana Antonelli Abella

What he talks about: Alex is a chartered communicator and chartered marketer, currently the corporate communications director for Schneider Electric MEA. Through his posts and podcast Schneider Electric MEA Goes Green, he talks about the implementation of net-zero pledges in the Gulf, sustainable investment, and explores crucial sustainability issues like the deregulation of energy markets.

Follow Alex Malouf

What she talks about: Lara is the co-founder of The Waste Lab, a startup that aims to transform food scrap into compost to benefit the soil. She talks about composting and repurposing food scraps. She also shares insights from her journey as a female founder giving her followers a sneak peek into the startup life.

Follow Lara Hussein

What he talks about: Marc is the founder of Companies for Good, a social startup that aims to help businesses create a positive impact for their employees and communities. He talks about the CSR projects he organizes, giving his followers insights from the field on various topics.

Follow Marc Cirera

Goumbook has partnered with Aventura Parks and Dubai Sustainable Tourism for the first time for its Ghaf Seed Harvesting Program this month, which successfully collected about 152,000 Ghaf seeds. The seed harvesting was held with the help of a team from Aventura and Goumbook, along with more than 20 keen individuals

Ghaf seed harvesting is an essential aspect of Goumbook’s continuing #GiveAGhaf tree planting campaign.

Goumbook has invited the public for the first time to participate and appreciate the process of how the seeds of the UAE national tree are harvested to provide them with a first-hand experience of the seed collection process and learn about the Ghaf tree. The participants joined the team in the collection, extraction of seeds from the pods, sorting, cleaning, drying, weighing them, and storing some of them in seed bombs. 

Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, and Lina Dajani Malas, Managing Director of Aventura Parks welcomed the participants during the three-hour weekend morning event and explained the harvesting process.

Abella said: “Collecting the Ghaf seeds and sorting them is an important aspect of Goumbook’s efforts to continuously promote the planting of Ghaf trees. Requiring less water to grow, Ghaf trees present a great opportunity to contribute to the country’s efforts to conserve the local environment. It takes up to two years for the seeds to germinate and grow into a healthy seedling which is why we collect as many seeds as possible and choose the good ones to produce new and healthy trees.”

The activity also provided a fun and engaging opportunity for the young and young at heart environmentalists to explore the Ghaf forest park in Mushrif Park. The Ghaf trees have been shedding the pods and it was a perfect time to harvest the seeds. 

Do epic sh*t, the boutique, virtual content-creation and production house, has once again joined forces with Timberland Middle East to develop and produce seminal content as part of the iconic footwear brand’s global #NatureNeedsHeroes movement. Produced by its sustainability arm do epic good, championing sustainable production and ethical practices, the campaign highlights the work of four committed environmental game-changers, including our founder and managing director, Tatiana Antonelli Abella.

The campaign consists of a 2-minute film for each four real-life heroes of nature, continuing a series of creative initiatives developed by do epic sh*t in collaboration with Timberland Middle East over the past two years to provide a regional narrative and support the global #NatureNeedsHeroes message.

Our brand started with a boot, but it’s now becoming something much bigger. It’s become a mission. A movement. Our soul.

We’re calling on those who aren’t afraid to pull their boots on, get their hands dirty and dig in. Those who won’t take “no” for an answer. Those who care about the world we live in and know that a greener future is a better future. And those that will unite this same spirit in others.

Why? Because there is strength in numbers. In momentum. In being the voice for many. We will advocate, enlist and activate. We will turn our customers into stewards and the stewards into fans.

We’ll provide the anthem for every person everywhere to shout to strangers on the street. Our streets. We will empower anyone to come with us and grab the hand of another.

And another.
And another.

We can all be Earthkeepers.
We can all be heroes.

Every last one of us.
Nature Needs Heroes.

Starting in 2019, the movement began with the #PledgeNoPlastic initiative and installation, which garnered significant public and press attention. In December 2020 the second installment launched, a 2-minute music video titled “The Earth is our only home so let’s save it”. The video featured three regional influencers who all share a common passion for nature and protecting the environment, namely Saudi filmmaker Meshari Bin Suwaylim (@itsozx), and gamers Abdullah Almusallam (@x3booshz) and Ahmed Al Nasheet (@dvlzgame).

This year the NatureNeedsHeroes chosen for the campaign were:

-Omar Al Jundi, founder and CEO of the revolutionary Badia Farms, the GCC’s first urban vertical farm

-Ruby Archambault Giroux (founder) & Simona Sotirovska (co-owner) of The Botanist, a UAE based 100 per cent natural, sustainable and toxin-free home care range

-Riva Tulpule, a 15-year-old e-waste activist and founder of WeCareDXB, who recently earned an award from Action for Nature

-Tatiana Antonelli Abella, founder & managing director of Goumbook, a leading social enterprise promoting sustainability and green practices in the UAE

Thursday, June 24th 2021: Panel discussion held in Dubai at the In5 Tech in partnership with the Sustain UAE group. We spent the evening discussing the circular economy

The massive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on all our lives and economies underscores that our collective survival and well-being hinges on our willingness to confront environmental threats that have global consequences.  Key to protecting lives and making communities more resilient to such threats as well as the overarching fears of environmental degradation caused by climate change will be an increasingly focused emphasis on proactive, science-based decision-making at all levels of society.

Now more than ever before, we need to work together to implement new policies and utilize technology to strengthen resource security and ensure resilience. Moving towards a more circular economy can lead to reducing pressure on the environment, improving the security of supplying raw materials, increasing competitiveness, stimulating innovation and accelerating economic growth. The circular economy, if appropriately implemented,  has the potential to boost jobs, growth, and investment, while promoting the transition to a carbon-neutral, resource-efficient, and competitive economy.

Based on his championship of the Circular Economy in Singapore, across the SE Asia region and within the Energy Institute for some years, our Guest Speaker Peter Godfrey summarized what he sees as some of the core elements of Circular Economy development and implementation that we should all be thinking about in our day-to-day lives and business.

With the new UN Decade kicking off, we are proud to be part of it through the Trillion Tree Campaign to which Goumbook, as the Campaign’s only partner in the UAE, contributes through its local and international planting initiatives. Initially focusing its collaborative efforts on the UAE’s indigenous Ghaf tree for its perfect adaptation to the local environment as well as its key role in the ecosystem and its heritage value, Goumbook has recently expanded its planting program to include mangroves and other species with options locally and abroad. All trees planted with Goumbook will count towards the One Trillion Tree objective.

As part of the Restoration Decade launch, we will start using the TreeMapper App – a tool to bring science, transparency, and on-the-ground efforts together.

There are different science-based approaches addressing the question of how best to plant trees.  Realities on the ground are sometimes a different story, especially when operating in marginal environments such as the UAE. The monitoring and reporting tool “TreeMapper” is a gamechanger when it comes to working to increase the quality of reforestation.

TreeMapper will be an important support to Goumbook planting programs: it will facilitate transparency in global reforestation and enable projects to provide straight-forward, high-level reporting free of additional cost for our clients.

For more information, email us at ask@goumbook.com

Among the most pressing threats to the long-term survival of bees and other pollinators are climate change and habitat loss. As the world’s most crucial group of pollinators, bees are an essential part of agricultural production and natural ecosystem functions – but their condition also serves as an indicator for the general health and balance of the environment.  Drawing on the multi-disciplinary expertise of the team as well as the knowledge of specialized partners, Goumbook is able to approach this complex issue from several angles: By planting trees and raising awareness about conservation, the habitat of key species such as bees is protected. After a decade of planting locally, there are now multiple benefits to be reaped from the mature trees which create a positive social and economic impact beyond the environmental benefits.

Honeybees have been living on Earth for over 100 million years. They occur naturally over vast and diverse geographic areas. Apiculture is the deliberate rearing of bees for production of honey and other bee products. The practice of beekeeping is believed to date back thousands of years. Thanks to its many medical uses and health benefits, raw honey has long been used as one of the most effective folk remedies of all time and is, along with other bee products often found in natural cosmetics and beauty products. In rural areas with a high concentration of Ghaf trees Goumbook has established partnerships to start producing honey from the UAE’s national tree, adding a cultural heritage value to the health benefits of the final product.

L’Occitane, sharing this commitment to nature and the restoration of vital ecosystems, has been supporting the planting of indigenous tree species through the Give a Ghaf program since 2016, first planting seeds, then 50 Ghaf trees in 2019. To mark World Bee Day on May 20^th, the partnership has been taken one step further: By sponsoring temporary apiaries consisting of ten hives in one rural and one urban location in Dubai, L’Occitane demonstrates the brand’s corporate social responsibility and commitment to nature. Thanks to this dedication, the approximately 400,000 bees hosted by those apiaries can continue to perform essential ecosystem services for our local environment, which in turn our businesses and livelihoods depend on. Beyond pollinating food crops and wild plants, producing nutritious honey, and thus supporting our food supply and income generation, bees contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems and allow a number of different species to co-exist.

Through their contributions L’Occitane also supports Goumbook’s planting programs “Give a Ghaf” and “Trees Matter” which work to restore nature, preserve biodiversity, and increase community resilience in the UAE and abroad.

For more information about our Give A Ghaf Honey Project, please visit HERE

The move is part of Dubai’s continuing efforts to advance sustainability standards in the hospitality and tourism industry and enhance the emirate’s image as a leading sustainable tourism destination. The set deadline is an extension of the original compliance date in 2020, which was pushed to this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A total of 19 standards have been set by the DST which include sustainable management approaches, performance metrics, energy, food and water management plans, guest education, employee training initiatives, the presence of sustainability committees within hotel establishments and corporate social responsibility programmes for local communities, among others. 

Environmental advocates welcomed the latest development which reflects the emirate’s serious efforts to push environmental sustainability and reduce the negative impact of key industries to the environment. If implemented, the Dubai tourism sector can significantly contribute to the emirate’s targets to achieve the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy 2021 and reduce carbon emissions by 16 per cent this year.

Goumbook has been working with various hotels to encourage them to shift to a more sustainable choice when it comes to using water and providing them to guests, which would massively cut on the use of single-use plastic bottles. 

Through its Refill UAE campaign, Goumbook aims to revolutionize the practice of drinking water consumption in the UAE, especially in sectors where there is heavy dependence on bottled water. Providing healthy and sustainable water refilling stations empower consumers and make it easy for them to move away from buying bottled water.

Dubai Tourism has required hotels to resume their monthly submission of carbon emission drivers using the Carbon Calculator. The sustainability tool was conceived in 2017 as part of the Tourism Dirham Platform, providing hotels with a system to measure their carbon footprint and submit monthly their consumption of 11 carbon emissions sources such as electricity, water, district cooling, waste, fuel for transport, fuel for generators, and LPG among others. 

Yousuf Lootah, Vice Chairman of Dubai Sustainable Tourism, said: “We strongly encourage hotels to comply with the 19 Sustainability Requirements set by Dubai Tourism and provide Carbon Calculator submissions by 1 July. We know that with the ongoing support of the relevant government bodies these hotel establishments can play a huge part in achieving the overall carbon emission reduction target over the next year and beyond.”

In 2019, DST has trained a total of 528 hotels on the sustainability standards to help unify Dubai hotels’ environmental practices and thereby further promote the emirate’s tourism economy.

For more information, email us at ask@goumbook.com