Tori Tsui on climate, eco-anxiety and how It’s Not Just You

The eco-struggle often goes far beyond the climate itself, extending into already unjust systems of race, of class, of sexism and ableism. All of which adds fuel to eco-anxiety and a very real mental health crisis. It is this strand in particular which is the focus of It’s Not Just You, the new book from intersectional climate activist and mental health advocate Tori Tsui.

In July 2023 Tsui joins us here at the Southbank Centre as part of our Planet Summer season of climate care, hope and activism to discuss her book and her work with actor Jessie Mei Li. Ahead of this we took the opportunity to get something of a head start and find out a little more about Tsui, and what led her to write this important work.

Can you remember when your awareness of climate issues, and your interest in climate action first began?

I grew up in the north east of Hong Kong in a small fishing town and the natural world was essentially on my doorstep. But with that I came to experience the effects of the climate and biodiversity crisis first hand; from polluted waters and wildlife trafficking to freak typhoons, Hong Kong had it all. However it wasn’t until my secondary school that I really understood what was at stake, and how the reliance on dirty, polluting fossil fuels is driving us off the cliff edge. It’s safe to say I became quite obsessed with climate change as a young person.

You eventually left Hong Kong for the UK, what brought you to these shores? And did being in a new country reframe your outlook on climate change at all?

I had aspirations to complete a PhD in conservation and environmental sciences, so I left Hong Kong to attend school here in the UK. Ironically I never pursued the path of academia, and it was through being in proximity to climate groups that I committed ostensibly to climate campaigning from the lens of climate justice. Given the difficult relationship between activism and the political landscape in Hong Kong I feel very fortunate to have found that community here. That being said, it’s clear the UK has its own challenges too.

‘In many ways I believe eco-anxiety still isn’t taken very seriously, in particular the impacts it has on people’s capacity to take action ’

In 2019 you became involved in Stella McCartney’s Agent of Change campaign, how did that connection and collaboration come about?

It came from two different incidents. I had started making short films about the biodiversity crisis and was scouted by Stella McCartney’s creative director, and at the same time I met two members of the Agent of Change team at a protest in London. 

And it was this collaboration that ultimately led to your work in establishing Sail for Climate Action Project?

Yes, in a way. In 2019 the brand sponsored me to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the UN climate conference COP25, but it was actually when I was on the other side of the Atlantic that me and some friends helped facilitate Sail For Climate Action, which specifically focused on Latin American and Caribbean youth, and building coalitions with European movements.

Moving onto your book, It’s Not Just You, which considers how climate change and our mental health interact; how long have you been aware of, and interested in, the connection of these two aspects?

I would say that inadvertently, the climate crisis has always been an issue of my mental health for as long as I can remember. But it was actually through the climate justice movement that I came to see the relationship between the two as a climate justice issue. That is, the climate crisis operates in a way where those who have contributed the least to its manifestation are suffering the most. And it’s imperative we understand the many ways in which people experience (environ)mental struggle beyond the western lens. 

Do you think the significance of eco-anxiety and its effects on people has been almost downplayed in recent years though the proliferation of the term’s use?

In many ways I believe eco-anxiety still isn’t taken very seriously, in particular the impacts it has on people’s capacity to take action. While my book goes beyond the paradigms of eco-anxiety, it must also be said that societal and political consciousness has a long way to go, as many are suffering in silence, and in order to tackle this mental health issue at the root we need to radically address the climate crisis.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the four pillars which guide It’s Not Just You?

The four pillars are how I have chosen to navigate the conversation of mental health and climate change, and each build atop one another to guide the reader through the lens of climate justice.

The first tenet is quite simple, it is the understanding that you are not alone in whatever existential hardship or crises you face. It is a call to arms for solidarity, through recognising that experiences like eco-anxiety are very real and on the rise.

The second understands however, that we cannot rely on sole perspectives, it is a call to arms for intersectionality by reminding us that It’s Not Just You, there are countless others who experience the brunt of systemic oppression, magnified by the impacts of the climate crisis. It is an invitation to go beyond eco-anxiety to understand the different timeframes and geopolitical contexts that inform mental health in a time of climate change.

The third reminds us however that there are specific systems that have created a crisis of the climate and thus the mental health crisis too. It recognises that these are the same systems and that as a result we need to move away from over-individualising and pathologising narratives that situate the blame within ordinary citizens.

Tying this all together is tenet four, which is an invitation to view the mental and climate conversation through the perspective of collectivism. It is a testament to the power of the collective and the radical, resilient communities who have had to cultivate methods of survival throughout history. 

‘The climate crisis operates in a way where those who have contributed the least to its manifestation are suffering the most.’

You spoke to a lot of activists in the writing of the book, some of whom will be very well known to readers, others much less so. How did you determine who to talk to?

I wanted to ensure that I spoke to a wide array of climate justice and social justice activists from around the world. Many of whom I have worked with prior and others I have gotten to know their work through other organisers. I also wanted to emphasise the importance of narratives around mental health shaped by people of colour, including those from the global south.

One of the things It’s Not Just You highlights is the heightened impact of the effects of eco-anxiety on marginalised people; was that something you were aware of going into writing the book, or did it come from your conversations with people during the writing process?

I think I had always known that whatever struggle that is taking place will undoubtedly impact more marginalised communities. But what was truly revealing was how many of us felt as though eco-anxiety didn’t speak to the breadth of emotions and contexts we endure. As such, much of the book tries to carve out space for these truths through the lens of climate justice.

And lastly, if there’s one message you hope readers will take away from It’s Not Just You, what would it be? 

To be in community – no struggle will ever be won alone