Positive News Stories to Counter Eco-Anxiety

I see all too often on social media and when talking with friends how very worried so many people are about our future. People are concerned that nothing is being done to stop catastrophic Climate Change that could render much of the world in habitable for humans.  People see Governments and big corporations not acting or worse still actively promoting environmentally damaging activities, they see people being apathetic to the problems or at worst still in complete denial.  Too many may believe that there is a problem but think that either someone else will sort it out or why should they do anything to change when XYZ (insert whoever you want here) are not doing anything. Look on social media and you will see the likes of Greta Thunberg being pulled apart for standing up and demanding change and you'll see misinformation throughout the real and digital world. 

"We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it."

This quote by Barack Obama is why so many people have such high levels of eco-anxiety and I can count myself amongst those people. BUT ... it isn't all total gloom and doom and I'd like to highlight some of the ways that show there is reason to feel positive about the future.  This is not an exhaustive list and I am sure I will return to this topic again with new additions. 

Positive News Stories to Counter Eco-Anxiety

France has recently announced a law banning plastic on all fresh fruit and vegetables.  Supermarkets are also stocking increasing amounts of eco-friendly products - here in France every supermarket has sections where you can buy loose dry goods and our local one has a refill station for cleaning products.  You can buy Moocups and other reusable sanitary products, solid shampoo and conditioner bars and numerous other plastic-free alternatives to everyday products. It seems almost every shop from supermarkets to the tourist information centres stock refillable water bottles. More and more palm oil free and vegetarian/vegan products are being sold.

Beyond supermarkets there has been a meteoric rise in small eco-friendly businesses both on the high street with local and zero waste shops and online.

Climate Change is getting MUCH more coverage in mainstream media. This will partly be as a result of COP26 that is taking place in Glasgow as I type but it is also true to say that it was starting to go mainstream even before then.  A small part of the last episode of the BBC's Blue Planet programme brought the issue of plastic pollution in our seas into so many living rooms - young and old alike saw for the first time the direct consequences of our love affair with plastic and many vowed to reduce their dependence on it. And I'm not sure that even just 2 years ago we'd have had the likes of programmes such as Shop Well for the Planet (BBC) and Jo Lycett vs the Oil Giant (Channel 4). It's not only factual programmes and UK soaps and dramas are joining together to encourage discussion on Climate Change. In November 2021, seven of the UK's most popular TV dramas and soaps will each have a storyline focussing on an environmental topic and actors from each will appear in other programmes or discuss the environment as a way to highlight the issue and to act as a catalyst for dialogue. Such inter-programme collaboration has never happened before but this is unlikely to be a one off and 12 of UK's media brands have agreed to increase quantity and quality of climate change coverage in drama, comedy and daytime programming.

Young people are becoming more vocal and are not willing to be fobbed off by politicians and corporations.  It may have started with a lone Swedish girl striking outside her school but the youth environmental has grown and grown. There are young and extremely eloquent young climate activists across the globe pushing the message time and time again that for their future we have to act now.  Climate Change is covered on the school curriculum and young people are better informed on environmental issues than any previous generation.

It's not just young people. Everyone is becoming aware that there is a problem and that time is running out.  The number of eco-centric accounts and groups on social media has sky-rocketed and people use their accounts to spread the eco-message and call out greenwashing examples.  On social media and in real life it is becoming normal to talk about climate change. 

And the Royals are speaking out - the Queen was overhead dissing the Australian Prime Minister for saying he would not attend COP26 and Prince William is pushing for environmental change through his Earthshot Prize, a prestigious global environment prize designed to incentivise change and help repair the planet.

One argument put forward by climate deniers is they "believe" that the changes needed to avert climate change will result in the loss of jobs and that we will all return to the dark ages. But whilst it is true that some of the traditional jobs associated with climate damaging industries will disappear they will be replaced with millions of other jobs in the new clean energy sector, in new technologies and in urban food production, to name just three. Technology is moving fast to create an environmentally safe future. 

As the clock keeps ticking governments are beginning to realise that actually it is in their own interest to limit climate change. In the 1990's Costa Rica had the world’s highest global deforestation rates and less than a quarter of its original forest cover remained. However thanks to sustainable land use policies the country has stopped deforestation and reversed it, successfully replanting half of its lost forest whilst at the same time increasing economic growth. 

In too many cases the discussion for or against climate change is a left versus right political debate but sometimes something happens that brings both sides of this divide together.  The UK Government has been increasing the amount of raw sewage dumped into its waterways and coast and whilst opposition to this practice might previously have stopped at the doors of groups such as Surfers Against Sewage and conservation organisations this has not been the case this time. Thanks to some prominent tweets by the likes of 80's pop stat Feargal Sharkey everyone has got behind the call to stop this sewage dumping and at one point the story was headlining on both the Daily Mail (right wing newspaper) and the daily Mirror (left wing). 

These are just some of the good news environmental stories that I wanted to share.  We have a massively long way to go to ensure the global temperature does not rise too much but I do believe that together we can achieve this.  To keep yourself informed why not listen to some sustainability podcasts or subscribe to either a magazine such as Positive News or an email newsletter such as Happy Eco-News.  The better informed we are the better we can make the right decisions and fight the inevitable greenwash that will undoubtedly grow in the coming years.  

How do you feel about the future? Are you filled with eco-anxiety and can you see a path to a better future? Please do share any good news stories you have some across so we can all share them.