Hope is a verb.

Hope, many of us fail to realise, is often treated like currency.

One that is stored in endless reserves deep in our subconscious, just waiting to be drawn from.

We’re often told to have hope. To be hopeful. Accessibility and ease are baked into our everyday language around it.

But as climate-informed and empowered individuals committed to acting from a place of resilience, we’re always negotiating with the fact that hope isn’t a sure thing.

It is precarious, finite, sometimes even fragile. It waves like a candle-flame in the wind, especially when we recognise the sheer magnitude of what we’re confronting.

Climate guilt is overwhelmingly pervasive, because it is tied to our lifestyle and the compounded impact of the generations before us. Climate inequality can be too dismal to articulate.

To have hope can sometimes feel impossible.

But hope is part of the good work.

And it is as essential as practicing daily green habits, contributing to dialogues that inform climate policy, and gathering to share resources and build strength in community.

Why? Because hope is what keeps the wheel turning. It is ultimately what pushes us to show up consistently, gather, and put in the work to achieve the change we want to see in our reality.

And the good news is it grows when it’s sown.

Here are a few ways to nudge your heart to the light when it’s difficult to find it.

Hope, like motivation, is misunderstood as a passive feeling. But it is in fact, a verb. Just like resiliency, it is a practice that, with enough time and energy, can be developed into a skill.

According to several studies, this skill may also be the answer to dealing with large-scale chaos and uncertainty.

Dr. Charles R. Snyder, in his theory of hope (1994), suggests that hope is the result of a dynamic interplay between goals, agency thinking, and pathway thinking.

Goal: a specific, achievable target
Agency thinking: the desire to pursue a goal and attain it
Pathway thinking: the ability to strategise plans that’ll get you to your desired goal

Simply put:

Hope=agency+pathways to achieve a goal

So what does that look like in practice?

When we begin to feel the weight of the climate crisis, and the helplessness of being “just one person”, the challenge is to switch to a structured, science-backed hopeful thought process.

The thought:
“I am powerless, the world will never get better, what is the point?”

Agency thinking comes in the form of a pivot:
“I am one person, but my contribution is significant. It is on me to do what is in my control. What does that look like?”

This is where goal-setting comes in.

You may not be able to rewrite climate policy overnight or reverse global pollution, but, even as a single individual, you can decide to reduce food waste, support local sustainability initiatives, attend city council meetings, or join a community garden. You can organise others in your vicinity to protest, or share expertise, or even do a neighbourhood clean-up. These are quantifiable, effective, and active goals.

Yes, these actions are simple. But they’re actions. And intentional, goal-oriented movement and problem-solving is exactly what alleviates anxiety, and ultimately fosters hope.

Moreover, the fact that these actions are small also means that they’re repeatable. And over time, that’s the kind of impact that compounds and delivers.

Climate data is, most of the time, extremely anxiety-inducing because it translates the magnitude of damage we’re dealing with.

For example, the World Meteorological Organisation declared that 2025 was one of the warmest years in recorded history.

That can mean terrible things for rising sea-levels, biodiversity, and the state of human life worldwide. And this data is not easy to grapple with.

But the story isn’t set in stone. It’s still being written.

And it’s a bit more nuanced than we think.

Yale Climate Connections reports that as of 2023, we’re below the projected rise of average temperature owing to the many clean-energy measures taken by countries worldwide. And while there’s still a significant amount of work to be done to bring global emissions to a net zero, the numbers indicate that we’re at least on the right track.

They also confirm that we’re making real progress:

Deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado has fallen by 11% for the fourth consecutive year.

Across the globe, a decade after the Paris Agreement, research shows that economic growth is finally no longer directly proportional to increase in emissions.

And in Canada, we’re prioritising energy independence, with a focus on the decarbonisation of the transportation sector, and more clean and renewable energy sources.

Data, it is said, is inherently a lag indicator. Because it confirms where we have been.

Staying abreast of the positive data doesn’t mean indulging in feel-goodism and outsourcing your part. It means keeping yourself from being paralysed by fear and dread.

It’s also a gentle reminder that there is some fantastic climate work taking place all over the globe—many of which starts with individuals like you—and that we can all be part of it!

According to a February 2026 report by Re.Climate, 67% Canadians believe that we can solve climate problems if we work together.

And we at the Sword Fern Collective wholeheartedly agree.

Several studies suggest, moreover, that being in community actually motivates action over trying to bear the emotional weight by oneself.

So, volunteering with a green initiative or non-profit, for example, isn’t just a way to foster hope alone, but also gift it to someone else.

And there are several ways to do it. Some ideas include:

• Area cleanups (like the beach/street/local park or garden) within your community.

• Maintaining accountability around personal climate goals (example: using re-usable straws, taking transit instead of your car) among friends and family.

• Hosting or attending environmental education workshops in collaboration with community centres and universities.

Hope is also circulated through celebration, joy, and expression. A no-devices paint night, a clothing-and-jewelry swap instead of a casual shopping trip, or a standing weekend community garden activity with friends could go a long way.

Share experiences. Swap for eco-friendly gifts. Prioritise thrifting. Recognise your part and perform it in these moments with intention. There’s no right way to organise.

Hope lives in the lighter moments, too. And together, we can make more of them.

• Hope is the antidote, American Psychological Association, 2024

• Hope and climate-change from a psychological perspective, Maria Ojala, 2023

• What Can You Do About Climate Change?, GoodWork.ca