Good news is welcome at any time of the year. Somehow, in the aftermath of the Christmas celebrations and New Year, as well as the news regarding the situation in Ukraine and its effect on world energy supplies and food, it is especially welcome now.

I have just been reading about a report presented at the American Meteorological Society in Denver in which it states that the hole in the ozone layer is beginning to repair itself.

This is tremendous good news. It follows on from legistation about 35 years ago which banned the use of chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) around the world. These chemicals were once used in aerosols, as coolants and in dry cleaning and were very damaging to the ozone layer.

Yes, it will still take 20-40 years to completely heal, but it is on its way. It demonstrates what can be achieved if those who hold political positions have the will to enact the laws needed to save our world.

You can read about CFCs and how they affect the ozone layer here. https://tinyurl.com/3rz36upu.

This sets a precedent for future actions. Our role in all of this? We must continuously campaign to tell our politicians that we want them to do what’s necessary to slow down the horrendous changes in our climate that are on the way in the not too distant future.

Here in the UK one of the effective campaigns to join is the Local Electricity Bill which is campaigning to have the law changed to allow communities to generate their own electricity. Read about it here. https://tinyurl.com/3wwpkt8k.

Sometimes people ask what is sustainability. Here is how it is described by the United Nations. “UN Resolution 42/187 defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The UK Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future, set out five ‘guiding principles’ of sustainable development: living within the planet’s environmental limits; ensuring a strong, healthy and just society; achieving a sustainable economy;  promoting good governance; and using sound science responsibly.

That sounds like the kind of world I want to live in. Hopefully, it is your kind of world too. So we need to work together to change what we can in our own communities as examples of what can be achieved.