'I no wan burden di world wit my pikin' - Tori of women wey no wan born sake of climate anxiety

Awareness of di climate crisis generally dey strongest for developed kontris, but "climate anxiety" dey also lead some husbands and wives to decide say dem no want children.

Julia Borges worry about climate change increase for di first month of di pandemic, wen she plus odas dey isolation, alone wit wetin dey dia mind.

"I start to dey see picture of my city and my university under water," di 23-year-old agriculture and engineering student from Recife, on Brazil north-eastern coast, tok.

"I come begin dey get anxiety crises, to di point wey be say I bin dey tink of giving up on my own life, becos I bin no know how to deal wit all dis tins."

Doing course on climate leadership no too help – e only increase her feeling of responsibility for wetin dey happen.

Soon she reach conclusion say e no dey right to born pikin.

"I no fit see myself as responsible for di life of anoda human being, for generating new life wey go become anoda burden to planet wey don already get overload," Julia tok.

For 2022, one team from Nottingham University ask adults for 11 kontirs weda anxiety or distress about climate change bin make dem feel say dem no want children, or make dem regret say dem get.

Di portion wey say dem bin tink dat kain tin - sometimes, many times or always – dey between 27% for Japan to 74% for India.

Dem go publish di study next year.

One study wey dem bin publish before for Lancet, based on one 2021 survey of 10,000 pipo between di age of 16 to 25, find say more dan 40% of pipo wey respond for Australia, Brazil, India and di Philippines say climate change make dem fear to born pikin.

For France, Portugal, UK and US di number na between 30% and 40%. For Nigeria na 23%.

And one analysis of 13 studies wey dem bin don do before between 2012 and 2022, wey researchers from University College London publish dis year, find say di concern for climate change get typical connection wit di desire for fewer children.

Dis na usually becos di pipo wey participate for di study dey woory about how climate change fit affect dia pikin life or becos, like Julia, dem feel say more children go add to di pressure on di planet resources.

However, for two studies wey dem do for Zambia and Ethiopia, researchers say di main tin wey pipo dey reason be say "smaller families dey for beta position to support demsef during harmful environmental conditions".

For 2019, singer Miley Cyrus say she no go born pikin becos of di condition of di planet, and US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ask for Instagram if e go dey right to bring children enta dis world wey climate change don dabaru.

Dis same debate dey also occur for kontris wey dey for front for di climate crisis.

Julia concern about climate change only increase wen for May 2022, storm hit Recife cause floods and landslides, leading to more dan 120 deaths for di region.

"Just three days before dis massive rains, I bin give children for one local NGO lecture on di topic of climate crisis.

Dia and dia, as later dat na di area wey di flood affect pass," she say. "E really affect me, in di sense say how we fit tink about children for di duture if di children of di present already dey in danger?"

Two oda women for kontirs far from Brazil also dey strongly influenced by serious weather events wey dem say na sake of climate change.

Shristi Singh Shrestha, na Nepal animal rights campaigner, she visit her family village dis year, she shock to see hunger dey finish pipo sake of drought.

All di di tins wey dem plant for farm dry up, dem no fit find water even afta digging one 200ft well.

Meanwhile, for one neighbouring district, flood don sweep one village go.

Shristi, 40,don dey concerned about climate change long before dis time.

Eight years ago, she bin dey look her newborn daugther as she dey sleep come dey worry about di kain world wey she go inherit.

"Understanding how dis world dey take work, how climate change dey change pipo life for di worst, for animals and children – dis realisation dey make me cry every day," she say.

She vow say she no go born anoda pikin.

Dis new tragedy for di village – wey make parents give dia young daughters out in marriage becos dem no fit feed dem – dey cause her sleepless nights.

Wetin be climate anxiety?

By psychotherapist Caroline Hickman, University of Bath

Climate anxiety, or eco-anxiety, na healthy distress wey we feel wen we look wetin dey happun for our changing world.

We dey face personal and planetary threats from our planet wey dey change sharply.

And e dey cause us to feel anxious and afraid for our own and our children futures.

E no be just anxiety, but also sadness, depression, grief, despair, anger, frustration, and confusion.

We dey mostly get moments of hope or optimism, but dis fit dey hard to hold on to as we dey move sharply to to di opposite no dey take enough steps to slow down di climate crisis.

For 24-year-old Ayomide Olude, wey dey work for one sustainability NGO for Nigeria, di experience of filming one documentary for one riverine fishing community last year make her more determined not to born pikin.

Residents of Folu, 100km east of Lagos, show her wetin dem dey use before take play by the sea, almost all already dey under water.

"During di storm surges di flood water dey now reaches inside di village, so pipo don dey leave dia house now," Ayomide say. "Dis na wia real estate bin boom before but now you fit see abandoned houses and some parts of di village already dey under water."

Fishermen tell her say dia work no dey safe now becos storm dey increase.

Ayomide say dey herar nigerians sometime dey discuss dia anxieties for one "climate café" wey she dey run for Ogun state, north of Lagos.

Climate café na space wia pipo dey encouraged to share wetin dem sabi and feel about climate change. Di experience for Folu sharpened her own concerns.

Like Julia for Brazil, she dey face pressure from society and her family to born children, but says notin go convince her to change her mind.

"For society wia women no too get power to decide, and wia dem get religious belief say pesin suppose born pikin, e dey take serious power and determination to tok dis one for public," she say.

"My parents dey vex, and we no dey tok about am much. I try not to tink about am although I feel sad for dem."

Shristi, for her part, gatz to cope wit relatively wey continue to push her to born anoda pikin.

But all dis three women say dia partners support dia decision.

University of Bath psychotherapist Caroline Hickman, di lead author of di 2021 Lancet study, argue say climate anxiety na healthy response to climate crisis.

She advise anybody wey dey experience am make dem contact oda pipo wey dey feel di same way, and to do collabo wit dem on practical steps to address di crisis.

"Dis difficulties no go go away, so we need to learn how to face dem."

Tips for coping

• Join community of of pipo wey dey tink as you dey tink so you go get pipo to share your feelings wit

• Learn to control your emotions so you no go catch too much feeling on top di mata or shut down (feeling too small feeling). Mindfulness and meditation fit helpful, but also anytin wey to help build emotional resilience dey okay too.

• Den e get possibility to "re-frame" eco-anxiety into eco-care, eco-courage, eco-connection. We no try block am, we dey only feel eco-anxiety becos we care. We suppose feel proud say we care!

Caroline Hickman, University of Bath

Julia don take dis path. She don help map areas wey dey vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and she dey work for one local NGO wey dey teach pipo about climate and di environment.

"Wetin help me release some of dat anxiety na to become agent of change and transformation for my community," she say.

Still, her worries remain.

"I still dey feel dat despair, but I don dey work wit my therapist - and e dey help to tok about am."

Additional reporting by Paula Adamo Idoeta

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