CHRISTMAS is over and the New Year has begun, complete with the same set of concerns and anxieties that plagued 2021.

From Covid to Climate Change many people are wondering what the future holds for them, and 2022 for many looks quite daunting.

But the reality is we are about to see one of the most seismic shifts in our lifestyles seen since the Industrial Revolution. There are three key areas where change is now happening at speed-and we will be able to look back on these challenging few years and remember them perhaps as the time when the UK woke up to the need for rapid adaptation.

The first area for optimism is energy supply. Since 2014 the UK has more than doubled the amount of energy produced by renewables. By definition, renewables include biomass, hydro, hydrogen, wind and solar. Currently nearly half of the energy produced in the UK is from green energy sources. This is an incredible shift, which will accelerate further over the next decade. The net result will be a continued move away from fossil fuels and eventually that should feed into a slow drop in the energy prices we are currently paying. A fossil fuel free energy sector will mean far more stable prices, which in turn will help us budget without fear of unexpected price rises as well as the obvious benefits for nature and climate.

The second area for excitement is car sales. For the first time ever last year, electric car sales represented over 10% of all new purchases and that figure is rapidly accelerating. By the end of 2021 there were an estimated 365,000 pure electric cars on the UKs roads alongside an additional 705,000 plug in hybrid vehicles. New diesel vehicles are quickly disappearing from forecourts and that will soon be joined by petrol models as well. In addition, we will see new hydrogen powered cars hit the show rooms in the next five years, giving people a choice between electric, hybrid and hydrogen. This is not just good news for the climate but great news for asthma sufferers and others who struggle with airborne pollution.

Finally, I believe we have reached a tipping point where more trees will be planted every year in the UK than will be cut down-and I am meaning native woodland, not plantations. A major scheme has already begun across the north of England called the Northern Forest. The plan is to create a 120 mile long stretch of native mixed forest along the M62 corridor between Hull and Liverpool, totalling 25,000 hectares of new woodland. The project began in 2018 and already over 3 million new trees have been established. Similar schemes across the south of England are likely in the next few years.

I realise that it is not always good news out there and that for every success story there are still many challenges but I am encouraged by some of the positive stories emerging that this will help us to become a cleaner and more nature rich nation.

There is much still to do, but sometimes it is worth stopping for a moment and just acknowledging how far we have come already.