I hope that reading Future Hopes has left you with a sense of optimism for the future. I know it can feel impossible to comprehend the scale of the climate crisis or how to begin tackling it, but with these stories we have seen that there are real-world solutions out there.
This is just the beginning of your climate journey. A lot of the characters in this book found that taking action in their local community made them less anxious about the planet. Yeni helps with the gardening in her building’s rooftop farm in “Saving Olumide”; Remi and the Wildecrew from “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Garden” help to revitalize wasteland; and Ara helps the farmers in her local village to improve their farming methods in “The Drongo’s Call”.
Many of the actions we see in this anthology aren’t going to reverse climate change on their own. But, accumulatively, the little things all make a real difference. And for each amazing person in these stories, there are hundreds of people out there in the real world, battling climate change with quiet determination.
So what can you do right now, today? The easiest thing is to start a conversation about climate change. You’ll be surprised at how many people in your life are scared of talking about it. They don’t want to acknowledge that the world is in trouble, or they might be too overwhelmed to know where to begin taking action.
I know that the more I learned about climate change, the less scared I became. Instead of feeling powerless, I began to see glimmers of hope for the future. I saw it in the amazing scientists researching solutions to slow down pollution. In the new tech that will replace our energy-guzzling gadgets. For all of the bad news, there are positive breakthroughs being made all of the time.
Try discussing this with your parents, friends and teachers. Knowing someone who cares about the climate will make them care about it more too. Tell them that taking action in their local community will bring hope and help ease their fears. It might not have even occurred to them that they could be doing something to help.
One of the best ways you can tackle climate change is to help people imagine a world where everyone thrives – humans, animals and Planet Earth together, living in harmony. In the skies, oceans, landfill, fields and factories. We can get there, together.
There are some scary years ahead, but I believe in the goodness and strength of humanity. Even if it feels like we’re facing a time of disaster, there are so many bright and glorious possibilities for our future.
I promise it’s possible to save the world. You don’t even have to be a superhero to do it. You just have to have hope – and a dash of determination.