Webinar: “The Silent Crisis: Climate Change and Mental Well-being”

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center hosted a webinar “The Silent Crisis: Climate Change and Mental Well-being” on July 29, 2026.

This was the fourth session in our webinar series, “Climate Change and Health: Science, Policy and Public Health in Action,” aimed at strengthening public health responses in India in the context of a changing climate.

The discussion began with opening remarks and context setting by Dr. Swati Bakshi, Deputy Director, Harvard Chan India Research Center. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring esteemed experts and thought leaders in the field:

• Dr. Aakash Shrivastava, Additional Director and Head, Centre for Climate Change and Health, National Centre for Disease Control
• Ms. Jasmine Kalha, Co-Director and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, Indian Law Society (ILS)
• Dr. Marc Weisskopf, Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Physiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Dr. Naveen Kumar C, Professor & Head, Community Psychiatry Services, Officer In-Charge: COE on Climate Change and Mental Health (NCDC, MOHFW), Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS

The session was moderated by Dr. Christy Denckla, Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The session brought together more than 175 participants globally, including policymakers, public health professionals, researchers, civil society organizations, and academic institutions.

The discussion explored how climate change and environmental exposures affect mental health across the life course, while highlighting the uneven burden faced by vulnerable populations and low-resource communities. Speakers examined India’s evolving response through the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH), NIMHANS-led initiatives, Tele-MANAS, the District Mental Health Programme, and community-based models such as Atmiyata.

The session emphasized the need to build climate-responsive mental health capacity across the health workforce, strengthen evidence and surveillance, and embed community participation, lived experience, gender responsiveness, and rights-based care within locally adapted and climate-resilient health systems.

The webinar series continues to provide a platform for examining how integrated adaptation measures and multisectoral strategies can strengthen resilient, evidence-based public health responses to climate-driven health risks.