Many managers purposefully choose to work in sectors that contribute positively to solving global challenges. This study examines how managers in the renewable energy sector construct and maintain a sense of meaningfulness at work amid the emotional complexities induced by the climate crisis. We interviewed 49 managers across Europe, exploring their emotions and identities and how they interact with societal responses to environmental challenges. Our analysis reveals that managers navigate a landscape of emotional ambivalence, oscillating between hope and despair, driven by their roles in contributing to global decarbonization. Drawing on psychosocial theory, we explain how managers navigate emotional ambivalence through three defense mechanisms: dissociating, idealizing, and displacing. By integrating micro-level emotional experiences with broader societal and environmental contexts, this study contributes to understanding how meaningfulness at work is maintained during crises, particularly in sectors directly addressing grand societal challenges, such as climate change
