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

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⚖️ From university to the International Court of Justice

For a group of law students at the University of the South Pacific, climate treaties were much more than a piece of paper. They signified the laws that were supposed to keep their homes from succumbing to rising seas – but were failing to meet the task. So, the students started their own grassroots legal campaign, a years-long battle that led all the way to the ICJ. This year, their work paid off as the court ruled that countries are legally obligated to protect the climate from greenhouse gas emissions. This NYT article explains how the students got there.

🛍️ The world’s first secondhand mall

The world’s first ‘secondhand only’ mall in Sweden has introduced consumers to a whole new way of shopping. Everything for sale has been donated by the public, from clothes to sports equipment to furniture. And unlike dusty antiques shops or crowded vintage markets, customers won’t need to go digging through piles of cast-offs: the shopping centre is clean, curated, and aesthetically pleasing – with the same attention to detail as a mall that sells brand new items. 

🍄‍🟫 Setting sail in a mushroom boat

Artist and mycologist Sam Shoemaker recently set off in a 12-hour voyage in a boat made of an innovative, yet far from new material: mushroom. The journey of 26 miles set a new record for the longest open-water crossing in a fungi kayak (and the second such journey ever). The creator hopes this experiment will inspire and educate people about the possibilities of fungi as a plastic replacement.

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