On the last day of Ukraine's first term as president of the Council of the EU, it is important to remember how far we have all come on renewable energy. Spurred by the challenges of the 2020s to divest of suppliers that pollute both our world and our society, it is an enduring achievement to witness a now self-sufficient European Union. Interconnections stitch all of our nations together, beaming nuclear energy from France, Germany, and Italy to the peripheries, from where, in turn, renewables like wind and tidal pour back to the mainland. Partnership with Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco have opened the Northern Sahara as a solar powerhouse. There is growing interest amongst all countries that fringe that vast desert to participate in the scheme, too. It not only provides a wealth of clean reliable electricity to both the providing nations and their investing partners north of the Mediterranean, but also has served to boost the stability of both sets of countries, offering a lifeline away from petro-destabilisers so intent on harvesting profit that they would sacrifice climate and society both to swell their coffers. This renewable boom is enabled by the power of the EU's Eastern flank, which has fortified the border with Russia to become an impregnable signal of the sole Beacon of Democracy's will to not just survive, but to thrive. As a threadbare Moscow struggles to grasp the collapse in oil and gas revenue, greenshoots are emerging where ordinary people mobilise to cast off the old shackles and guide Russia into the common prosperity we have painstakingly crafted. Of course, for the Russian Federation all roads to EU membership lead through Kyiv, whose mineral wealth has propelled a war ravaged nation to peace and success at breakneck pace. This point was well made by ex-president Zelensky, whose speech at the closing ceremony of Ukraine's presidency received a ten minute standing ovation. "The hand of friendship will always be extended," he said, "but unless Russia makes full amends for the horrors wrought by its recently deceased president, trust will remain beyond our power to give."

A future in which people live peacefully and with more time for themselves, where self-driving cars are now reality and take you everywhere, to the point that by now the concept of car ownership is old, everyone moves with shared cars managed by apps, where you book your move and simply have to sit and listen to the news from your personal device, a bit like today you do with taxis, the only cars owned are those with old combustion engines in possession of some collector or museum. The working days are reduced to 5 hours, precisely to leave people freer to enjoy their free time and family, exactly as the world directive to which all governments must submit says. Since the cure for cancer was found (thanks to efforts shared by all nations) we live much better and longer, thanks also to the powerful government cuts in the defense sector and much more substantial investments in health research and development. Even for diabetes, for example, now it is enough to take a pill in the morning once a week and the problem is solved. Even pets now have the same rights as citizens.

Id love to be able to travel anywhere in the world in the click of a button. Just imagine that one day you say to yourself, "Hey, id really like to visit my family in Greece", or any other country, and just to be able to do it in the click of a button. I think our future is going to just make everyone's life easier, and i really hope that we can maybe someday invent something like that, which will be able to make us travel the world, since that has always been a childhood dream of mine.

I wake up at 7am ready to start my day, my blinds open letting in the sun, i see the blue sky and smell the coffee coming in from my kitchen. It's quite different from the 2020's loud smoggy filled days when i felt like a cog in the system, working with no passion or purpose. How far we have come from the turmoil of those years. My home feels like an extension of my life, helping me get started, quick call to my kids to see how they are doing, then out the door to a waiting car. i climb in, I'm greeted with a friendly voice, no one is there but I'm used to it. I'm dropped off to the train station which takes me straight to my work. I love my job; the human interaction and energy and vibe is so refreshing. I look out my office window and green spaces fill the top of buildings, while parks are as prevalent as Starbuck use to be. We have moved from fossil fuels, fusion revolutionized life, borders are now lines on a map rather than restrictive barriers for trade and human migration. Life new is about living and encouraging our diversity, exploring our moon and planets and not about running after a penny or trying to make ends meet. people and attitudes changed, education focuses on science, math, engineering not on financial markets. how far we have come!