World Environment Day opinion by Heidi Lee Douglas Solar Citizens CEO published in Fifth Estate on 4 June, 2025
(photo taken at 'Climate Warriors' event at University of NSW on 5 June 2025 - with ABC presenter Craig Reucassel, Rewiring Australia founder Saul Griffith and AYCC National Director Grace Vegesana)
This World Environment Day we are grappling with evolving systems that can destroy or transform our relationship with the natural world. Today, as we stand in the midst of climate change, biodiversity collapse, sanctioned fossil fuel extraction and democratic disillusionment, many of us could sink into despair.
But what if this darkness isn’t the end? What if it’s the forest floor—dense, decaying, and fertile for regeneration?
What if this crisis is not about destruction, but provides the compost of transformation?
In Australia two charged currents are surging as they transform: democracy and energy. The energy to re-democratise. And the democratisation of energy. Both are under strain, and both are also being reborn.
Our democratic representation is in flux - with a rise in popularity of independents, a turbulent relationship between old allies the Nationals and the Liberals, and the rise of Labor as a governing force. Our democracy is not static, nor should it be. Like an ecosystem, it relies on diversity, decentralisation, and constant renewal. It must keep evolving or risk collapse.
As trust in institutions frays, grassroots movements are emerging like mycelial networks, quietly reconnecting communities, spreading ideas, rebuilding trust. Through community organising, WhatsApp groups, social media, and face-to-face connection, we are collectively choosing to participate more. Choosing to show up, not switch off. Choosing to co-create the future, not consume it passively.
And while this happens, something remarkable is also unfolding on our rooftops. Across Australia, more than 1 in 3 homes are now powered by the sun. It’s the largest distributed energy system in the world, quietly and practically grown from the ground up. Like a vast photosynthetic canopy, we are capturing sunlight, day by day, house by house.
And just like nature never stores energy for today alone, we’ve begun to evolve. Home batteries are our adaptation. Just as trees store nutrients in roots. Just as animals store food or fat for winter. Home batteries store clean, cheap energy—so we can use it later, when the sun isn't shining.
They are resilience engines, allowing us to rely less on out-dated, polluting fossil fuels. They are the evolutionary leap that turns intermittent sunshine into continuous power.
In regional Australia, where energy costs are high and blackouts more common, solar and batteries aren’t just economic. They’re empowering. They mean independence. Safety. Continuity. During Cyclone Alfred this year, solar + battery systems kept some families safe and connected. One family even used their electric car to power their home. That’s not the future. That’s an evolved present.
And it’s not just out bush. Cities, too, can become energy ecosystems, neighbourhoods generating, storing, and sharing clean power like a living network. Every rooftop becomes a photosynthetic node. Every battery, a root cellar of resilience. Every connection, a thread in a larger web of care.
This is the democratisation of energy. It’s not just about who gets power, but who owns it. Not just how we generate electricity, but how we generate trust, care, and belonging. Too. That’s why Solar Citizens fought for and won a federal battery rebate. It’s a step towards wrestling power over our energy supply away from large corporations.
And yet we’re only halfway there. Too many Australians - renters, apartment dwellers, and people in social housing - are being left behind. They deserve a stake in this energy ecosystem. The work isn’t done until the whole ecosystem thrives. Until everyone can participate in this evolutionary shift. Because this isn’t just about solar panels or storage units. This is about ecological justice and about creating a healthy society that is a healthy organism as a whole.
I think of Jane who lives in the suburbs. She’s installed solar and could afford a battery when a rebate was made available. She told me she’s saving money. But beyond that, she’s part of an ecosystem. Her home is a node of strength. Her battery stores energy not just for her, but for the grid. Her choices ripple outward, like the humming of bees pollinating far beyond the hive. Jane isn’t just a consumer, she’s a keystone species in a regenerative future.
Because in the end, this is about more than electricity. It’s about effort. Ownership. Care. For our planet. For our democracy. For one another.
So as we mark World Environment Day, I invite you - to let crisis be your catalyst, let community be your culture, and let justice—real justice—be your energy.
First published in Fifth Estate, 4 June, 2025 -As Australia unleashes a carbon bomb on the planet, here’s some big issues to consider for World Environment Day