Letter 8 — To Professor Sally Russell

Staying emotionally engaged with the climate emergency

Date: 20 October 2025

Recipient: Professor Sally Russell, Chair of Sustainability and Organisational Behaviour — University of Leeds

Context

The first letter of Week 2 of One Letter a Day turns from local politics to academic voices shaping how we understand and act on climate change.

Professor Sally Russell’s research explores the behavioural, emotional and organisational dimensions of sustainability — how individuals and institutions translate concern into lasting action. Her work connects psychology, workplace culture and environmental responsibility, offering insight into the human side of sustainability transitions.

Letter

Dear Sally,

Thank you for agreeing to be part of One Letter a Day — a year-long public correspondence using letters to reopen grounded conversations about the climate emergency. Each day I write to someone whose work shapes how we think or act on this issue, and publish both letters and replies to invite further discussion. This is the second week of the project, and I am writing to climate-engaged academics and leaders here in Leeds.

Your research on behaviour, emotion and organisational life feels especially relevant to questions I keep returning to. Public concern about climate change has remained remarkably stable — around four in five people in the UK still say they are worried — yet our collective attention keeps being pulled elsewhere. Crises of cost, conflict and culture continually divert focus, even as the need for action grows more urgent.

From your perspective as a scholar of sustainability and organisational behaviour, what practices — individual, organisational or civic — can help societies stay emotionally engaged with the climate emergency without tipping into fatigue or despair?

I ask because the gap now seems less about awareness than about stamina: how we sustain attention and care over the long haul. Your insights on how emotion and structure interact could help chart a more humane way of keeping climate in view.

With thanks for your work and friendship,

– Vivien

📨 Reply from Professor Sally Russell

No reply has yet been received.

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Tomorrow’s letter continues Week 2 with Professor Amanda Maycock, asking how scientific warnings about the limits of our climate system can be given a better chance of turning into real political and civic action.