24 learnings that helped me cope with my climate anxiety in 2023

Here only for Spiderman? Jump to #15

In times of climate emergency, a list of news, projects, and data to start 2024 with hope by acknowledging progress and imagining preferable futures.

1. We are Making Barriers Reef Great Again (source)
2. When building wind farms, we are not making dolphins deaf anymore (source)
3. Oysters in walls will make French schools fresher during summer (source)
4. An underwater museum is protecting the Mediterranean Sea (source)
5. The archeological site of Pompei is installing invisible solar panels (source)
6. Beavers are working with the Mayor of London to protect the city from flooding (source)
7. Dragons aren’t as extinct as we thought (the earless lizard ones, spotted for the first time after 50 years) (source)
8. Native Americans built safer highways for people to drive on and for animals to come across (source)
9. European bees won’t be killed and will have protected corridors to pollinate ecosystems (source)
10. An election result was enough to protect the Brazilian rainforest (source)
11. EU citizens have a new right: being able to easily and cheaply repair products instead of buying new ones (source)
12. After 2035, new cars in Europe will be less noisy and polluting (source)
13. We are getting better at recycling EV batteries (source)
14. Brazilian kids are using their superpowers (and play) to plant trees, start community gardens, and restore ecosystems (source)
15. Nigeria has a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man picking litter from the streets (source)
16. Great Britain won a World Cup for picking litter (source)
17. After Hurricane Maria, a Puerto Rico community started to independently and resiliently generate energy (source)
18. Humans are partnering with Artificial intelligence to understand how to save Mangrove ecosystems. (source)
19. These robots are making textile recycling in fashion easier (source)
20. Patagonia and Samsung found a way to reduce laundry pollution (source)
21. Thanks to Etsy, Nest, and the Environment Defense Fund, artisans have guides on what to do in case of climate disasters (source)
22. Emissions in EU fell, while the economy kept growing (source)
23. CO2 emissions are about to get worse (but maybe for the last time) before our ecological transition makes things better (source)
24. If we installed 1 gigawatt of solar panel in 2004 but 1 gigawatt every day in 2023, imagine how much progress we can make in the next 19 years. (source)

This list (and its last item) was inspired by the ritual list by Tom Whitwell.

These 24 are just my favourites from 2023. What are yours?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead