Their panic takes two forms, one more apocalyptic than the other.
The first is the sobering realization that if there were wider public awareness of climate change it would mean that people would expect their governments to "do something" and this would disrupt a balance of power that is currently working for them.
The more extreme version of this panic is a kind of bunker mentality.
There will be more refugees in the future, not fewer. Food prices will be higher.