‘Under the Weather’: Reports and reflections on the Climate and Emotions project

Within the climate movement, there is a lot of emphasis on bringing a hopeful, joyful message. The idea is that without hope, people will give up. With climate anxiety and climate depression becoming more well-known, and the temperatures continuing to rise, it is important to look at what moves our movements. What kind of emotions foster just action? What kind of emotions motivate people to sustain their activism? Can we support each other while experiencing the intensity of climate breakdown? 

This blog post is the first of a series, where Winnie and Harriet track the development of their workshop design ‘Under the Weather’ about Climate and Emotions for Antwerp University. Winnie and Harriet are developing a workshop on Climate and Emotions for the ‘Anger, Backlash, Violence: Climate Activism Today—Addressing the radical forces shaping climate activism’ summer school at Antwerp University at the end of August this year. Below is an interview with Winnie on, among other things, the first steps she has taken for her internship.

“Hope is not my main driver for action anymore”

W: Hope was one of the drivers that led me to join the climate movement: the hope for a better future, a new way of co-living, the belief that we can change the world for the better. Whilst that aspect never completely left me, I think there are many moments when I feel I have given up hope. Living in this world and doing political work in these systems gives you constant setbacks. From the recent court ruling in the UK stripping trans women of their rights over ongoing subsidies for fossil fuel industries and increased spending on militarisation to the genocide in Palestine despite global mass mobilisation. When I think about these things, it isn't easy to be hopeful. In the larger scheme of things, I have stopped believing that we will live in a world that is my utopia. Our current system's odds and power dynamics are not in our favour. Hope is not my main driver for action anymore. Whilst this changes my relationship with my political work, it does not mean that I don’t think fighting is worth it. In a recent Instagram post, the climate justice activist Mikaela Loach talks about her ongoing grief for what is lost and how she wants to reframe her activism. She highlights that we have saved more than we will ever be able to know and quantify, and that her work never relied on the condition of us achieving what we collectively deserve. She says:

  “I do this work because no matter what happens, no matter how much we lose, I will always love people and animals and the way the oceans look when we’re lucky enough to peek under the surface on a sunny day. (…) If I can save even a fraction of any of that, if I can make even one person’s life safer, I will do that. I will give my life to always choosing to do that. Because it will always, always be worth it.”

Her words resonated greatly with me, especially in a time like these. Many people around me inspire me, whether I interact with friends and fellow activists, read thinkers who describe a better world, or am at a Vokus (community kitchen) or a protest. I draw the little hope I do have from these people.

Synthesis between reflection and action when coping with emotions

I have been reading the facilitators' guide ‘Living with the Climate Crisis’, which was written by Rosemary Randall, Rebecca Nestor, and Danila Fernandez-Catherall, three women active in the climate movement as facilitators, psychotherapists and psychologists. They developed this guide in response to experiences they made working with individuals and groups that struggle mentally with the enormity of the climate crisis with the aim to develop and provide coping strategies. 

In the manual, the authors find a synthesis between reflection and action components when coping with climate emotions. They gave an overview of different emotions that come up in regard to the climate crisis, such as grief, loss, anxiety, despair, shame, or guilt without pathologizing them. Furthermore, they add action components to the workshops.

The descriptions of the emotions seem more reactionary and put the person experiencing them in a passive position as ‘receiver’ after confrontation with the extent of the climate crisis. Therefore, part of the exercises focus on the active reflection of these emotions; noticing them and providing a communal space to feel them. Thereby, these emotions that are usually felt on a highly personal level and may be isolating at times can be elevated to a group level to achieve a sense of community and solidarity. 

However, the workshop doesn’t leave the participant in the reactionary space of only reflecting and noticing emotions but rather builds on that to go beyond that towards an action component. They outline how different people with different skills and personalities can contribute differently to the movement in the web of interdependence. They base this on the idea that action can help in dealing with climate distress as it can provide a sense of shared purpose and agency which reduces the sense of helplessness. Whilst this might not be applicable to more experienced activists that have already been active for a while, there is evidence showing that it can significantly drive people to action in the first place and have a positive effect
on their mental well-being (Clayton & Parnes, 2025).

Set up of ‘Living with the Climate Crisis’

The set-up of the workshop that I read about is suited for a group of six to eight people that do not know each other beforehand with two facilitators that meet multiple times. The workshop material adds up to an overall of 20h of group time. It is divided into three different modules that follow up on each other, namely 
1) ‘Coming together and putting down roots’, 
2) ‘Communication’ and 
3) ‘The ecosystem of change’. 

The first addresses climate distress and how the group can build collective strength to cope with it. The second looks at how to talk about the climate crisis with one’s personal environment such as family and friends but also in more public settings. Finally, the third module goes beyond the individual and explores the bigger systems that we are all part of and possibilities for action. 

For each module, the authors provide background knowledge for the facilitators (e.g., on climate psychology, group facilitation techniques or ethical considerations) as well as concrete workshop activities.

Climate Silence as a collective, socially constructed denial

In the background information and frameworks that the authors provided, a lot of the things resonated with me and my personal experience. 

One aspect that I found super interesting was the description of ‘climate silence’ as a collective, socially constructed denial. Therein, they refer to Kari Noorgard’s research on climate denialism not as an individual defense to the observable changes in the surrounding environment but rather a group-level response. This goes deeper into the idea of the group-level aspect of emotions that goes beyond the individual and is socially constructed by all of us. 

Additionally, when describing the experiences the authors made in regard to the extent of climate distress of people in the movement, I was surprised. They described that for some, the feeling reached a point where they felt as if they lost a loved one. The distress felt like grief and bereavement. Whilst I personally also experience moments of overwhelm and distress, it never reached this level for me. This highlights again how different people react to the same pieces of information and epiphanies.

Becoming active in a movement: activism against despair

Their approach to emotions makes a lot of sense when you are in a group of people that have not yet been active in a social movement. I liked the action-focused component of the workshops. The acknowledgement that one of the ways of dealing with climate distress is to translate it into action and seeing the action-potential of these emotions is really fruitful. Therefore, I would adopt this frame and also the order of reflection and action component in the ‘Climate and Emotions’ workshop. 

Furthermore, I appreciated their emphasis on the diversity of emotions that are evoked in response to the climate crisis as mentioned above. Creating enough space to reflect this range in the workshop is crucial for  everyone to feel heard and seen without being judged but also to give participants the opportunity to reflect on their emotions critically. 

Many of the exercises and frameworks that the authors introduced are very applicable and relevant. However, one aspect that I would adapt is their  pproach to societal and political structures. Whilst they acknowledged the importance of these structures, they could have gone broader in their analysis of how the emotions are evoked.

Climate breakdown is just the starting point: digging to the roots

For me, the realisation of the extent of the climate crisis and its directly visible effects in terms of floods, droughts and deaths was just the starting point (which was already scary and overwhelming). Quickly after that however followed an increased awareness of the causes of the climate crisis and an analysis of the role of underlying bigger overarching systems such as extractive capitalism and colonialism. This analysis goes deeper than only looking at the effects of carbon dioxide emission, and felt even more insurmountable and paralysing for me.

This ties into another aspect, namely their focus on the individual carbon footprint in one of the exercises. The individual needs to make changes in their lives to live more carbon neutral - but I am skeptical about whether that conversation should be the main focus. It is more crucial to point out the difficulties of making changes to your way of life whilst there are bigger systemic forces working against you. Therefore, whilst personal lifestyle changes are definitely important, it is necessary to also look at how those overarching systems can be changed.

Finally, if the time allows, adding an imaginary component could also be helpful. Imagining alternative structures and ways of co-living can provide a mental vision to work towards and provide a sense of direction and purpose that is not just based on struggling against but rather struggling for something.

A radical approach: considering societal structures

We should not only talk about the biophysical realities and changes in the ‘environment’ but also consider societal structures. If you adopt a more radical approach, in your analysis as well as your form of political action, you are likely to be confronted with growing resistance and obstacles from the status-quo. Part of this resistance would be surveillance, state violence, and intimidation tactics; all of which we have also seen increasingly in the Netherlands with police showing up at front doors of activists and interrogating
them. 

The extent to which discussing this in a climate and emotions workshop would be fruitful likely depends a lot on the make-up of the group: are they actively organising/involved in movements and thus have likely been confronted with some form of repression? Or are they people that have not been active (yet) and are overwhelmed by the reality of the climate crisis? 

If it is the former, then it might be helpful as experiencing physical and mental repression for your activism can bring about a multitude of different emotional reactions: feeling anger and a moral outrage, being scared, or having less hope because you feel like the change that you want to see is less likely to be achieved. Being confronted with direct police violence can be traumatic as well. Whilst people react differently to it, some might not be able to continue with their activism and refrain completely from it. However, as pointed out in the manual, the action component and feeling like you are doing something is crucial in dealing with emotions surrounding the climate crisis. When you become paralysed after confrontations and are unable to join demonstrations, this coping mechanism becomes difficult to enact and you are left with guilt and shame. 

However, if the participants are without experiences of repression, it might not be necessary to have a discussion on repression. In this context, it might be valuable to mention that this talk and experience could be part of the journey as well, depending on the personal context and route of action the participant wants to take.

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this was the first in a series of blogs about the progress Harriët and Winnie are making on the workshop
‘Under the Weather’. Want to read more?

Facilitators guide
Mikaela Loach
Harriet about hope (Dutch)
Climate Psychology alliance
Klimaat psychologie Nederland (Dutch)
Klimaatgesprekken (Dutch)

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