CFP: Climate Emotions and Environmental Activism

Climate Emotions and Environmental Activism

17 June 2026, University College Dublin

Invited Speakers:

• Jakob Huber (Freie Universität Berlin)

• Mary E. Witlacil (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology)

The world has concluded the third consecutive year in which the 1.5 degrees warming target was exceeded, and catastrophic storms and floods killing thousands in South East Asia. At the same time, the climate and environmental crisis has moved to the background of global attention, and the global climate movement has not managed to maintain or restore the global attention needed to pressure governments and corporation for change. Many within the climate movement feel overwhelmed with emotional exhaustion and tactical disorientation, and the need to figure out what is to be done next.

In this moment, philosophy can play a critical role in examining the emotional life of activists within the struggle against climate and environmental breakdown, what role emotions play within a global social movement, and how emotions inform, shape and motivate the activism pushing for change. Recently, philosophers have conducted extensive surveys of climate emotions and their function: Thresher (2025) advocates for eco-anger as a force for change, Altenger & Menges (2025) argue that despair about climate change can have valuable signalling functions, and Velasco & Richardson (2026) explore ecological grief as a shared group-based emotion. This workshop seeks to continue the conversation, and examine climate emotions specifically in their role for climate and environmental activism.

We seek up to four contributions for the workshop on climate emotions and environmental activism. Topics include but are not limited to:

• Hope and despair and their role in the climate movement: what is their value, their function and risks? What forms can environmental hope and despair take?

• How do climate emotions like anger, grief, guilt or anxiety shape environmental activism? What functions do they fulfil, and what risks do they pose to activists?

• What can we learn from philosophical optimism in the face of climate breakdown? Is optimism necessary to sustain environmental activism? Is pessimism more justified?

• How are climate emotions such as anger expressed in different protest forms (e.g. civil disobedience or uncivil disobedience)? What protest form is best to anchor climate emotions in public discourse? What is the value of emotional expression in public discourse?

• How do climate emotions shape the agential identity of climate activists? Are escalating means of climate activism (e.g. sabotage or violence) informed or shaped by climate emotions, or vice versa?

• What can philosophy learn from social movement studies on the function of climate emotions?

• What role do emotions play in other political struggles, and what can we draw from these lessons for the climate movement?

Please prepare anonymised abstracts of max. 1000 Words (excluding bibliography), to be submitted to [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is 15 March. Submissions from graduate students and early career researchers are especially encouraged – additional funding is being sought to cover some accommodation costs for graduate and early career participants. Accepted papers will be notified by end of March at the latest.

The one-day workshop on 17 June will be followed by a book workshop on 18 June, on my book manuscript titled “It’s Okay to Despair about Climate Change – Militant Pessimism in the face of Climate Breakdown”. Participants are not required to, but are warmly invited to attend.