This week, I’m setting aside Talking Climate’s usual format to share joyful stories of people taking action for climate and nature—because sometimes what we need most is a reminder that solutions are already underway.

🇿🇦 In South Africa, SeaH4 is producing sustainable biofuel from algae that can be used in conventional engines to help decarbonise shipping and aviation.

🇮🇳 In India, faculty and students at Azim Premji University are turning climate data into an embodied experience by performing the story of India’s heat waves through dance.

🇦🇱 In Albania, after 12 years of tireless advocacy, two activists succeeded in protecting the entire Vjosa River, creating Europe’s first Wild River National Park.

🇦🇺 In Australia, a humorous new series, The New Joneses, follows hosts traveling the country by EV to explore climate solutions.

🇨🇦 In Canada, nineteen-year-old Fatih Amin, shaped by climate impacts he witnessed growing up in Bangladesh, is catalyzing youth-led climate action.

🇵🇪 In Lima, Peru—one of the world’s driest cities—an engineer is using fog-catching nets to pull clean water from the air for communities that need it most.

We can’t fix climate change alone—but we don’t have to. Millions of people are already working on it, and when we add our voices and our hands, action accelerates.

Don’t forget to share what you learn here this week. Two great conversation starters are, “Did you know…?” or “You wouldn’t believe what I read…?” Give it a try! talkingclimate.ca/p/climate-in…

This week’s Talking Climate newsletter is guest edited by my friend @Bill McKibben — one of the most influential climate activists of our time and a lifelong voice for hope, honesty, and collective action.

In his issue, Bill shares:

🌞 Good news: Australia is rolling out free midday electricity thanks to a solar boom—an extraordinary glimpse of what a clean energy future can look like.

⚠️ Not-so-good news: Why the U.S. risks turning its back on that future, just as the rest of the world races ahead.

🤝 What you can do: How local and state action can help “simplify solar” and make affordable clean energy accessible to more people.

As Bill often reminds us: “The most important thing an individual can do right now is not be such an individual.” If you’re looking for clear-eyed honesty, big-picture hope, and practical ways forward, this one’s for you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄🎁

open.substack.com/pub/talkingc…

Climate action is happening all around us — in communities, classrooms, churches, and unexpected corners of the world. Here are a few stories of hope, concern, and practical choices we can make together.

🌱 Good News: Innovations in clean energy are accelerating every day, from a solar-powered heated blanket invented by a 12-year-old Scottish student to keep unhoused people warm, to more churches going carbon-free every week.

⚠️ Not-So-Good News: Experts in climate science, health, and risk recently issued the UK’s first-ever National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis, highlighting escalating risks to food, health, national security, and biodiversity and more.

✈️ What You Can Do: If you’re traveling this season, consider thoughtful choices like staying local, choosing lower-carbon options, or flying direct when necessary. For now, offsetting travel emissions can help support community-centered climate projects ... while we're waiting (and advocating for) for a comprehensive, long-term fix!

Read more: talkingclimate.ca/p/3-creative…

“They’ve been warning about disaster since COP1. We’re now at COP30 and the beaches are still there.”

In this week’s Cold Facts, Hot Takes, I unpack some of the most common COP-related troll comments I get each year, from“Scientists fly to climate meetings on private jets!” to “COP is a global elite takeover!”

Here’s the truth. When COP began in the 1990s, you had to be living in a handful of remote places—the Arctic, or a low-lying island—to personally feel the impacts of climate change.

Today, climate impacts are everywhere. We see them in:
✅ Rising insurance rates

✅ The price and quality of all kinds of food including coffee, chocolate, and bananas

✅ Sunny-day flooding forcing coastal cities to raise streets and install pumps

✅ Worsening extreme weather and wildfire-driven air pollution
✅ And countless other examples that you read in Talking Climate each week!

Climate change isn’t distant anymore; it’s shaping our economy, our infrastructure, and our daily lives.

So when someone says “nothing’s happening,” the data tells a different story: the impacts are here, and action is underway.

If you want the full breakdown—including how to talk about these issues with others—the full episode is now live on my subscriber-only Substack and Patreon. I’m running a 20% off holiday sale, so if you’ve been curious, now is the time to try it out! linktr.ee/talking_climate

youtube.com/shorts/kGJskAUUYjQ…