Here are today’s stories of progress in the fight against the climate crisis and nature loss.

🏡 The climate-resilient homes that bob above the water

In the Netherlands, floating homes have come into fashion as a way to protect people and their spaces from flooding. The success of these projects means they have been used as a proof-of-concept for housing in the parts of the world most susceptible to climate change. For instance, in the Maldives – where rising sea levels threaten to completely submerge the islands – a ‘floating city’ is being constructed that can house 20,000 people.

🦆 The farmers welcoming ducks to their rice paddies

Scarecrows might be out of a job: rice farmers in the US are now deliberately attracting migrating birds like Canada geese and ducks to their fields. Rather than draining their paddies once the harvest is done, farmers have learned the benefits of keeping them as wetlands and gaining a seasonal workforce. Birds eat the leftover rice, and in return their droppings fertilise the land and their feet mix up the soil, so heavy machinery isn’t needed to make it ready for planting.

🔋 The hobbyists restoring exhausted batteries

In Jordan, a lack of official recycling infrastructure for EV batteries has sparked an informal, grassroots solution. Self-taught mechanics are learning from online videos how to revitalise the glut of depleted batteries from the country's many Teslas. By connecting these reconditioned batteries to rooftop solar panels, they are giving them a second life, cutting out waste and lowering people's electricity bills.

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📝 The Green Light is written by freelance writer Molly Millar.