The heatwaves of summer 2026 are helping to fuel ecoanxiety. In 2024, 2.1 million French people declared themselves to be very environmentally anxious, according to the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe). Ecoanxiety constitutes the new syndrome of worry, of growing anxiety in the face of the scale of environmental challenges. It is fueled by the powerlessness of politics in terms of ecological transition. Therefore, how can we escape the paralysis of anxiety and turn it into a positive and constructive source of ecological conversion?
Ecoanxiety can be concretely questioned by the relationship to work, in particular the question of alignment between ecological values and jobs contributing to global warming. Because contrary to popular belief, eco-anxiety does not only concern young graduates and extends to all employees. According to a 2023 study by Elabe and Unédic, 44% of workers could leave a company whose practices are contrary to the ecological transition. The responses are motivated by fears about greenwashing.
A need for roots
In a job market structurally disrupted by the generalization of artificial intelligence (AI) and the increase in absenteeism, ecoanxiety fuels the loss of meaning and fear of the future. Mental illnesses are now the leading causes of long sick leave, according to the latest annual report from Health Insurance (+ 25% in one year).
Ecoanxiety at work revives the theme of unease with the times. We propose to approach the phenomenon through rooting. Uprooting, whether geographical, temporal, cultural, moral or spiritual, is symptomatic of unhappiness. While rootedness is a “need of the soul”, according to Simone Weil. In a context of more acute climate change, rootedness constitutes an ethical compass for understanding and illuminating the human fragilities raised by ecoanxiety in daily professional life.
The idea is to provide an ecological solution that is not unfavorable to economic growth, while reconciling social innovation and local roots. Especially since, as the 2027 presidential election approaches, the question of work will be central.
Develop ecological skills
In May 2026, environmentalist candidate Marine Tondelier proposed climate leave of five paid days per year, allowing employees not to go to work during extreme weather events while still being compensated. She explains that she especially wants to protect people exposed to heat who cannot telework. The ecological solidarity leave proposal developed by Responsible Ecology is intended to be broader.
In the short term, the objective is to offer employees the opportunity to develop ecological skills linked to their jobs. Then, in the medium term, ecological solidarity leave will respond to changes in the relationship to work of younger generations, particularly regarding temporal flexibility in professional life.
Furthermore, it will make more attractive professions responsible for the ecological transition, sometimes feared due to a lack of sincerity in relation to the scale of the environmental crisis. Finally, in the long term, the system will contribute to the adaptation of the economic system to global warming, the need for which has been highlighted by recent heatwaves.
Promote territorial cohesion
Lasting between one and two weeks, on a voluntary basis, the system would be co-financed by the employer and the State. To encourage local roots and limit the carbon footprint, it should be carried out primarily, or even only, in France, by encouraging missions in rural areas to promote the issue of territorial cohesion and rerooting.
Regarding the identification of eligible structures (NGOs, associations, think tanks), the general secretariat for ecological planning (SGPE) could issue a priori a list for companies, of the selected actors, after an examination of the applications, while subsequently verifying the effectiveness of the work carried out in the host organization. A scenario of cautious adoption by employers, employees and the State estimates that the measure will cost between 2 and 5 billion euros per year.
Today, many young graduates from the “climate generation” are considering deserting the system in the name of a purist ethic. Faced with this temptation, ecological solidarity leave constitutes a responsible solution to help transform the system from the inside. The system would make it possible to regularly recharge the ecological sense of one’s work and prevent desertions in the margins. The transformation of society as a whole is at stake. Funding the measure by the State and businesses would preserve the possibility of a collective future in the Anthropocene era.
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