“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Life seems very dark right now. Our world is full of greed, hatred and misused power. Climate Change threatens our very existence. We desperately need hope for a brighter future. Yet we seem to believe we are just ordinary people who can do nothing to make a difference to that state of being. We wait for somebody else to solve the problems we have. We hope that Democracy will be restored or that we don’t need to change our lifestyles to avoid the worst of Climate Change.
Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see there is light despite all of the darkness.” I would go further. I believe we must look for that light of hope, but we must also create it. We can’t all save the world, but we can make a difference.
Some time ago I wrote a blog called Active Hope. That is what is needed right now. Active Hope is not just optimism that everything will turn out all right, but a type of hope that requires us to do something. It requires an understanding of the situation the world is in, and a plan for how we can change that situation. In other words, “what will we do differently?”
It is clear that the current position is very serious indeed. So Active Hope requires change on our part and on the part of our leaders. To change our leaders we need to be very clear what we want from them, and to ensure they know what is required from them.
Creating Light in the Darkness
This is a time when we need a lot of hope and belief that we can make things better. In a recent blog Do our politicians serve us well on the Climate? I mentioned that a global survey had found that 80% of people cared about the climate and wanted their politicians to do more to improve the situation.
My research has shown that while there are not yet enough active citizens of the world, there are already wonderful things happening out there. There are many small candles, (and indeed in some situations, large spotlights, as in the case of renewable energy) beginning to spring up in the darkness. I would like to tell you about some of them in this season of what should be hope and joy, at least for the world’s approximately 2.5 billion Christians.
1. Thoughts from COP 30 in Brazil
Laurence Tubiana (President of the European Climate Foundation) in remarks on LinkedIn has said that “at the recent UN COP30 in Brazil more than 90 countries have called for a concrete roadmap on deforestation by 2030.” These political agreements are notoriously slow. However, for me, and taken alongside the over 80 countries asking for a similar roadmap on the phase-out of fossil fuels, this says something. This is backed up by an agreement by Columbia and the Netherlands to hold a meeting in the Spring on how that roadmap can be created. Many of those 80 countries will probably attend. I hope this means that the world is waking up to the danger we are in.
2. The Podcast Outrage and Optimism
Listening to this podcast practically had me dancing in the streets. I think it was probably the most hopeful thing I have heard for a long time. It was a discussion of how the authors felt about COP 30, and also the good things that were happening in the fight against Climate Change.
You really need to listen to this to get a better sense of what has been happening in the world but here are the best bits:
- The economic costs of renewable energy have gone down enormously recently to the extent that now, the costs of 94% of renewables installed last year were cheaper that all fossil fuel alternatives.
- Uruguay now gets 98% of its electricity from renewables. That has halved costs and created 50,000 jobs, and it’s now exporting clean energy.
- In California, batteries and a cleaner grid have made rolling blackouts disappear.
- In Norway 99% of all new cars are electric!
- India’s renewables have supplied more than half national electricity demand multiple times this year. The solar mini-grids in places like Cameroon and Zambia are now bringing power to 30,000 rural homes and businesses.
The discussion finished with the fact that the talks at COP 30 have now moved from pledges to mobilization and implementation. “So how are we going to really implement the things we promised?”
3. Funding for projects has always been a struggle but…
Financing for nature and tropical forests: The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) was launched at the World Leaders’ Summit to protect tropical forests, endorsed by 34 tropical forest countries, along with pledges supporting Indigenous Peoples, local communities and land rights. Germany will contribute $1.16 billion to the TFFF fund, while Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, Portugal, France and the Netherlands committed to provide future financial support. The Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) launched the Catalytic Capital for the Agriculture Transition (CCAT) fund to restore degraded land, with a $50 million founding commitment. The fund will provide financial tools to help farmers in Brazil transition to more productive and sustainable practices, while also addressing deforestation.
Clearly a lot more is needed in different areas, and none of this is happening fast enough, but it feels as if the wheels are speeding up.
4. Loss of Biodiversity
Halting Biodiversity loss remains one of the world’s most critical challenges.
The good news according to this site is that conservation works, and there are some very good examples from 2025. They include the green turtle coming off the endangered list and the Guam kingfisher doing well, as is the crane in Scotland. Likewise, deforestation rates have decreased in every region in the world over the last decade. (Of course, trees are not out of the woods yet! But it is a hopeful sign.)
A Beaver Building a Dam
On the biodiversity front we know that animals can bring many blessings. An article on beavers in the Czech Republic has shown how they saved the government $ 1.2 million by finishing a 7 year dam project in just a few weeks! Environmentalists are hoping we can release a lot more into the wild in the near future. England certainly has plans to do this. Switzerland has an interesting approach to its increasing beaver population as their activities can cause problems for humans. The government offers compensation and there are many preventative measures that can be used to avoid conflict. Nevertheless, they are seen as an asset to most of the population.
5. A Bit of Fun to Bring Some Light to the World
The Dutch Tile Lifting Competition
The Dutch have created a wonderful new and light-hearted way of brightening their lives while working for Nature at the same time. It is called Tegelwhippen – Tile Whipping.
This involves lifting tiles and concrete from streets and gardens in order to plant flowers, bushes, food and other greenery. Apparently so far millions have been removed (the local councils have even created tile taxis to take the tiles away!). Apart from creating beauty and homes for insects this process also cools the environment and creates better drainage for increasingly heavy rain.
What Can We Do to Bring Light to the World?
Victor Hugo said, “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” I believe this is true. However, right now there is a great deal of suffering in the world, much of it unnecessary. If we continue on our present path there will be much more to come. But in spite of the very late hour we can still make a difference to our future. Each of us must play our part and there is a lot we can do.
- Bring what kindness you can to people around you
- Read newspapers that care about our future
- Vote for politicians who want to act for a better future
- Donate to organisations that fight for a better climate
- If you have a garden, keep it wild to support wildlife
- Create your own light in the darkness
- Educate yourself about the trouble we are in
- Donate to organisations that support Democracy
- Find a regenerative farmer near you and support him
- Re-read all my old blogs at this Christmas-time to look for things each of us can do!
There are so many ways we can bring light to the world. I would love it if you would write to me about things you do. We need that light of hope to move us forward in this, the fight of our lives.
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Photos by Johannes Plenio, Gülfer ERGİN and Derek Otway on Unsplash