Climate Victory: What It Really Takes

In this episode Dr. Margaret Klein Salamon climate psychologist, organizer, and Executive Director of the Climate Emergency Fund explores why disruptive, nonviolent climate action is a critical but chronically underfunded part of the climate movement, and how the Climate Emergency Fund has supported over 100,000 activists and more than 160 organizations worldwide since 2019.

This video was recorded on February 4th, 2026, and published on February 15th, 2026, and represents the opinions of the discussion participants.

Margaret explains the “movement ecology” of social change—inside game lobbying and litigation, community organizing through unions and faith groups, personal lifestyle change and climate emotions work, and building real-world alternatives like solar farms and community energy—while making the case for disruption as an essential way to break “business as usual” and confront fossil fuel power. She shares stories of early seed funding for groups like Climate Defiance, reflects on the Climate Mobilization Victory Plan and the idea that we must focus on what actually needs to be done rather than what is considered politically possible, and discusses how our politics are artificially constrained by media and pundit narratives.

The conversation also dives into the deeper moral and psychological stakes of the climate emergency: humanity’s choice to transform or collapse, the imperative to protect all life and biodiversity, and the importance of talking openly about our climate feelings instead of keeping them intellectual and abstract. Margaret closes with a clear invitation—to fund activists, to become an activist yourself, and to recognize that even modest donations can “supercharge” volunteer-led campaigns that are fighting fossil fuel expansion, challenging unjust systems, and working to restore a safe and healthy climate for all generations.

Links:

• Support Our Mission

• Climate Emergency Fund

• Climate Psychology: From Panic to Purpose (CEF Video)

• The Ayni Institute

• Climate Defiance

• The Climate Mobilization

• The Climate Mobilization Victory Plan

• Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change

• Philip Sutton, inspiring Australian activist who sounded climate emergency alarm

• Mission for America

• A Climate Advisor: Sir David King’s Journey (CEF Video)

Special Guests

• Margaret Klein Salamon - is a clinical psychologist, author of Facing the Climate Emergency, and a pioneer at the intersection of climate psychology and activism, helping people transform climate anxiety into courageous action. She is the executive director and founding director of the Climate Emergency Fund and co‑founder of The Climate Mobilization, which helped drive early climate emergency declarations and bold, justice‑centered climate policy.

Regular Panelists:

• Dr. Peter Carter - MD, Expert IPCC Reviewer and the director of the Climate Emergency Institute.

• Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University

• Herb Simmens - Author, Co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC), Climate Emergency Board Member and former college instructor.

Video Production:

• Charles Gregoire - Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth & the Climate Emergency Forum; Climate Reality Leader

• Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.

Attributions:

Background Music:

• Title: Through the City II
• Author: Crowander
• Source: crowander.com

Image and Video:

• Image and Video Attributions