🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #148

Happy Monday. 👋

Welcome back to another week of positive climate news stories. This week it’s a good one. A lot of positive stories from around the world.

If you’re from the northern hemisphere and you’re getting sad from the dark winter months, I have good news, this Sunday is the shortest day of the year. It’s up from here!!

I also have a quick shout out to a good friend and even better man, Will Orchard and his new blog Beginnings. Last week, Will and I played squash at 7.30 in the morning, he recorded it and interviewed me across the course of the session. If you wanted to get to know the man behind this blog, hi btw, then do check it out.

George Wade | Zevero Co-Founder | Squash

That’s all from me, let’s get into some positive climate news, shall we?

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👀 News to make you feel good this week

🎄 Natural vs. artificial Christmas tree, what’s better? The real takeaway is that the “right” tree is rarely the biggest lever. Keeping what you’ve got for longer, and focusing on food waste and diet shifts, tends to matter far more. A nice reminder to spend less time perfecting the small stuff, and more time doing the big, boring wins consistently.

🕊️ White storks nest at Dagenham country park in rewilding project. White storks are set to return to East London as part of a major urban rewilding push. The project aims to restore wetland habitat and reconnect communities with nature, with storks returning first and beavers planned to follow later. It’s biodiversity, climate resilience, and local pride bundled into one visible story.

🦪 A vast oyster reef is about to transform the English coast. Europe’s largest restored oyster reef is being built off the Norfolk coast, with millions of native oysters returning to the seabed. Oyster reefs filter seawater, improve water quality, and create habitat for loads of marine life. It’s a practical, nature-based solution that improves ecosystems while strengthening coastal resilience.

⚖️ Trump offshore wind halt illegal, judge rules. A federal judge struck down a directive used to slow new wind permitting and leasing. It’s a meaningful win for project pipelines, investor confidence, and the broader signal that process matters. Not everything is solved, but this is the sort of ruling that unblocks real-world deployment.

💭 My thoughts? Clean energy momentum is increasingly “institutional”. That is good. It makes reversals harder.

🔋 World’s largest “green battery” comes to life in India. A giant hybrid project pairs huge solar and wind capacity with pumped storage, turning renewables into firm, dispatchable power. This is what “renewables + storage” looks like at serious scale, not as a pilot. It’s a proof point that clean power can be reliable, not just clean.

🌬️ 25 years of British offshore wind. UK offshore wind has gone from a small early project to a major pillar of power generation in one generation. The story is engineering, scaling, and supply chains maturing fast, not just “more turbines”. It’s also a reminder that long-term policy consistency compounds.

📈 10 Years Post-Paris: How emissions decoupling has progressed globally. A growing share of the global economy is now managing to grow while cutting CO₂. The report suggests decoupling is no longer theoretical, it’s happening at scale across many countries and regions. The challenge is turning “more decoupling” into outright, sustained emissions declines globally.

💭 My thoughts? This is the evidence base optimists need, but also the warning label: progress is real, and still not fast enough.

🏛️ Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impact of fossil fuels. A new UK legal claim argues climate impacts should translate into corporate accountability. Regardless of outcome, it shows how fast climate litigation and attribution science are evolving. It’s another pressure line pushing companies to align with climate reality faster.

🇪🇺 EU reaches agreement to cut GHG emissions 90% by 2040. A big signal on long-term direction, with a clear mid-century pathway implied behind it. Targets are not delivery, but they shape investment, regulation, and corporate plans. The direction of travel remains towards faster decarbonisation.

🌊 Google signs ocean-based carbon removal deal with Ebb Carbon. More demand is flowing into carbon removal approaches beyond “traditional” offsets. Ocean-based removal is still early, but deals like this help fund learning curves and verification. It’s another marker that buyers are getting more serious about durable removal.

🧩 The best good climate news of 2025: states lead the way. A round-up of US state-level clean energy wins focused on affordability, grid upgrades, and holding polluters accountable. It’s a good reminder that progress keeps happening even when national politics is messy. Local policy is where a lot of delivery actually gets done.

💼 95% of business leaders see climate transition as growth opportunity. A striking signal shift: climate transition is being framed as opportunity, not only cost or compliance. That mindset unlocks capital, innovation, and faster internal decision-making. It’s a useful counterweight to the doom-and-gloom cycle.

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That’s all from me this week folks. This episode was written after a weekend of blue sky, cold hands and a great work Christmas party. This week’s music recommendation is a nice background one…FKJ - Piano.

George, the Grumpy Optimist 💚