Climate Joy is a Bristol based CIC that exists to bring more joy, creativity, and play into local and national climate action. It is a collaboration between Emma Geen and Rachel Moffat, who met on a US Embassy Climate Justice exchange and became friends working on the City of Bristol Just Transition Declaration. They are joined by directors Alice Tatton-Brown and Emily Fifield.
Read the story that led Emma, Rachel, Alice and Emily to start Climate Joy CIC.
Emma Geen is an award-winning activist, and an author, researcher, and lecturer. She was proud to win the Sustainability campaigner category in the inaugural Bristol Legends award and to be named twice by the Bristol Post on their ‘most influential women in Bristol’ lists.
She has been running creative climate and nature workshops for four years, including an artist-in-residency for the Bristol climate hub Sparks and a series of creative events for Disabled people for the Festival of Nature. Her workshops draw on her background as a novelist, visual artist and improviser.
Her specialism as an activist is in disability climate justice, but she has campaigned on issues ranging from clean air to limiting fossil fuel extraction to nature access. She has worked for Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership, the Sensing Climate research project, and Your Park. She co-produced the world’s first community climate action plan by and for Disabled people, and co-wrote the City of Bristol Just Transition Declaration alongside Rachel and two other activists.
She also worked for a period on voluntary living expenses for Extinction Rebellion to manage their Global, UK and Bristol Twitter accounts. Other organisations she has volunteered for include the Green Party, Greenpeace, MP Watch and the Climate Emergency Centre Network.
Her first book was published by Bloomsbury. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing and has taught for universities including Bath Spa and the University of Bristol. She often acts as a creative researcher, fellow, or research assistant for for interdisciplinary projects with a climate focus.
Rachel Moffat is a multidisciplinary practitioner whose work spans theatre, activism, and community engagement. After graduating with a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts, she worked with the National Theatre of Scotland, the OBIE Award-winning Pig Iron Theatre Company and acclaimed creator-performer Geoff Sobelle.
Rachel later completed an MSc in Gender and International Relations at the University of Bristol, where her growing interest in environmental and social justice led her into community energy as a practical form of climate-focused community organising.
She went on to become the coordinator and team manager of the celebrated Bristol Energy Network, working alongside communities to develop energy projects that respond to local needs. She organised national conferences and appeared on panels, radio, and television discussing fuel poverty and community-led climate action. Her passion around addressing fuel poverty led to her creating the ‘Energy Help Desk’ project that was requested in many Bristol communities to support those in or at risk of fuel poverty.
She is particularly proud of co-authoring the Declaration for a Just Transition for Bristol which brought together a wide range of community organisations to develop shared principles for climate and nature work in the city.
Rachel has enjoyed collaborating with Emma to create workshops and interventions that draw on their combined experience in the arts, activism, and community practice. Together, they develop inclusive, care-centred approaches to climate engagement that are supportive, accessible, and joyful.
climatejoy.org 