Hope - popcawn February 2025
I’ve been mulling over ‘hope’ for a while now, spurred on by the seemingly endless supply of bad news for the climate over recent months. The results of the US election were a low point for me, with the prospect of the unravelling of global climate action. By Christmas I’d had enough and decided to take a break from the news, social media and any other source of ‘grown up’ information. Stepping off the bad-news treadmill over the holiday period and into January gave me a chance to rest my brain and to reflect on how I want to interact with pressing global issues.
Since emerging from my media black-out, I’ve been selective with my news sources: I allow myself to listen to the Radio 4 news bulletins during unavoidable car journeys and I’ve subscribed to email digests from independent ‘slow news’ providers. I also try to keep in mind that we are generally sold bad news and sensational stories; positive stories that may report small or incremental change in the right direction don’t lend themselves as readily as click bait. I've subscribed to Positive News, one of a number of news providers that focus on positive and uplifting stories to try to balance the negativity of mainstream sources. Of course some news is still very bleak: there’s no sugar coating the recent statistics that 2024 was the first year the global average temperature rise went beyond 1.5 degrees and that atmospheric CO2 levels rose faster than predicted last year. I find that the Outrage and Optimism podcast is great for a contextualised and knowledgeable view on climate news and often feel better after listening to that.
So have I succeeded in balancing the psychological see-saw of awareness and despair? It’s early days but I feel that by moderating my news consumption I’m able to process distressing facts better than if bathed in a swamp of negativity. This gives me the mental space and energy to keep on working towards my climate action goals (personal ones and within the CA-WN community) – through action that I can control and am responsible for.
Climate action isn't all or nothing - we can all help to move the dial by contributing small actions that make it incrementally better. One key way we can do this is by inspiring others into action by setting an example: it doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, just keep doing what you do, live by your values and be the change you want to see. Showing up for others is what keeps me going in the moments when I feel all hope is lost, and seeing what others are doing gives me back my hope.