Eco-anxiety, net zero and climate crisis enter 'Oxford English Dictionary' ahead of Cop26

Project aims to broaden and review its coverage of vocabulary related to climate change

Protesters at a demonstration in Barcelona to highlight the climate crisis. Getty Images

The language of climate change has entered the Oxford English Dictionary, in recognition of the plethora of environmental terms which have become commonplace.

Eco-anxiety, net zero and climate catastrophe are among new terms included in a new edition.

Medics warned earlier this month that climate change worries were making children ill, hence the term eco-anxiety.

As leaders, negotiators and campaigners prepare to descend on Glasgow for crunch UN Cop26 talks, a special update of the authoritative dictionary has been launched, dedicated to exploring the language of climate change.

Other additions include climate justice, climate refugee and climate strike, in recognition of the youth protests led by Greta Thunberg. Getty Images

Other new words and phrases include CO2, a contraction of carbon dioxide, and global heating, which has been adopted by some people to replace global warming to talk about the long-term increase in temperatures.

New sub-entries in the dictionary include climate crisis, climate catastrophe and climate emergency, reflecting the greater urgency people are feeling about the issue. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II recently revealed her irritation at the lack of action tackling the climate crisis.

Climate denier, climate sceptic and climate denialism have joined the list of terms to describe the rejection of the idea or evidence that climate change caused by humans is occurring, or represents a significant threat.

In recognition of the growing fear many people have about climate change, eco-anxiety makes a first appearance in the dictionary to describe unease or apprehension about current and future harm to the environment.

Other additions include climate justice, climate refugee and climate strike, in recognition of the youth protests led by Greta Thunberg, as well as extreme weather, to describe weather that is very harsh, unseasonal or atypical for a region — especially when attributed to climate change.

Language is also changing as people discuss how to tackle the crisis, with net zero now used to describe balancing greenhouse gas emissions with removals, rain garden to absorb rainwater, and air source for a type of heat pump.

The uptake in electric vehicles is reflected in new entries for range anxiety and smart charging, and there are additions to windmill to refer to wind turbines, and tidal to reflect the potential to generate power from the tides.

An aerial view of the Scottish Events Centre in Glasgow, where the Cop26 Summit will take place from Sunday, October 31, until Friday, November 12. Getty Images

Banners advertising the upcoming Cop26 Summit line a street in Glasgow. Glasgow was chosen to host the summit in 2019. Ministers described it as one of the UK’s most sustainable cities and a showcase for “diverse culture and world-leading innovation”. Bloomberg

Workers erect a fence at the Scottish Events Centre. Cop26 was initially due to take place in 2020 but was postponed by a year because of the pandemic. Getty Images

A pupil holds a poster at St Convals Primary School in Glasgow while learning about climate change ahead of Cop26. About 25,000 people are expected to attend the summit. Reuters

Road closures are in place around the SEC in Glasgow. There have been 25 Conference of the Parties (or 'Cop') summits so far, making this year's event 'Cop26'. Bloomberg

An electronic poster advertising the Cop26 summit. World leaders will kick off the summit by setting 'high-level ambition' for climate action, the UK government says. Bloomberg

The Armadillo building forms part of the SEC, the location for the summit. Bloomberg

Artists paint a mural on a a wall next to the Clydeside Expressway near the SEC. Getty Images

Police Scotland mounted officers patrol near the SSE Hydro venue in Glasgow. As part of the summit, world leaders are holding talks on November 1 and 2. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will represent Britain and US President Joe Biden will be there. AFP

Volunteers model the official uniforms that will be worn by about 1,000 volunteers at Cop26. PA

The update comes after the OED, produced by Oxford Languages, part of Oxford University Press, started a project early in 2021 to broaden and review its coverage of vocabulary related to climate change and sustainability.

Lexicographers for OED have also traced existing climate-related words further back in time, tracking the term “climate change” back to a US magazine article in 1854.

In the 1980s, the world was talking about the greenhouse effect, but that was quickly overtaken by global warming, and then both were eclipsed by the use of climate change, which has seen sharp and steady growth over the past 40 years, the language experts said.

Now the language has become more urgent, with climate emergency, crisis and even catastrophe joining the lexicon, and seeing their use surge.

Although Ms Thunberg started her skolstrejk — school strike — in 2018, prompting a global movement, the term first appeared a few years earlier in 2014, in a proposed event organised by the activist organisation Popular Resistance.

Trish Stewart, science editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, said: “As world leaders come together to seek solutions to the climate change problem, it has been fascinating, if at times somewhat alarming, to delve deeper into the language we use, both now and in the past, to talk about climate and sustainability.

“The very real sense of urgency that is now upon us is reflected in our language.

“What happens next depends on so many factors but, one thing we can be sure of is that our language will continue to evolve and to tell the story.”