Plot Summary

Deciding whether to have a child is an emotionally fraught and deeply personal process. Deciding amid increasingly dire warnings for the planet makes it even more paralysing. "The Climate Baby Dilemma" explores the state of what to expect when you're expecting... climate change. With the future promising to be increasingly unstable and insecure, conversations about parenthood are heating up. Over the course of three years, the film follows prominent science writer Britt Wray, as she delves further into this complex issue - hosting workshops, giving talks, and speaking to activists, psychologists, parents and prospective parents. The film also meets many youth at the centre of the climate moment. A growing number of Gen-Z and millennials are either refusing to bring a child into an increasingly unstable world or struggling with the question of whether they should. Those deciding to have children, while being very climate aware - like activists Sarain Fox and Severn Suzuki - offer perspectives and lessons for raising children in the climate crisis. Through her research, Britt considers how one can transform climate anxiety and grief into transformative action. For many, the best antidote to feeling powerless is activism - and that can take many forms, including the decision not to have a child.