Solastalgia and climate adaptation: a scoping review of eco-affective distress across vulnerable and general populations in the context of SDG 13

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a determinant of psychological health, yet the psychological mechanisms mediating between environmental disruption and impaired adaptive capacity remain poorly integrated into global climate governance. Solastalgia, defined as the distress caused by environmental change in one’s home environment, has emerged as a candidate construct for bridging this gap. However, the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, populations, and methodological traditions, and its implications for climate adaptation under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13) have not been systematically examined. This scoping review synthesizes empirical and conceptual evidence published between 2003 and February 2025 on solastalgia across vulnerable populations (agricultural communities, coastal residents, and Indigenous peoples) and general populations in urban and peri-urban settings. These three vulnerable population groups were selected on the basis of their consistent representation in the empirical solastalgia literature and their documented exposure to direct, place-based environmental disruption; they are not intended to represent an exhaustive typology of climate-vulnerable populations. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework and guided by PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines, we identified 87 eligible sources through searches across PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE, supplemented by hand-searching of reference lists ( n = 47 additional records). Findings reveal two structurally distinct pathways through which solastalgia intersects with adaptive capacity: an inhibitory pathway, in which unmediated eco-affective distress is associated with helplessness, anticipatory paralysis, and disengagement from collective climate action; and a mobilizing pathway, in which place-based identity and solastalgia co-occur with heightened ecological engagement and community-driven adaptation. These pathways are proposed as evidence-informed theoretical constructs generated by this review, not as empirically established causal mechanisms. The magnitude, direction, and durability of each pathway are moderated by place attachment intensity, access to psychosocial support, perceived institutional responsiveness, and the pace of environmental change. Critically, existing measurement instruments show substantial heterogeneity and inconsistent performance across population types, particularly in general population samples, representing a structural constraint on both research and policy. We argue that integrating solastalgia monitoring into national climate adaptation frameworks constitutes a well-grounded research and policy direction warranting systematic evaluation under SDG 13, and we propose a conceptual model, the Eco-Affective Adaptation Interface, to guide future empirical and policy work.