“Someone once said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. Perhaps that is due to some weakness in our imaginations.” – Fredric Jameson

Many genres of speculative fiction, specifically genres of punk, resist the future that is dominated by technology and criticizes the direction that society appears to be heading.  Solarpunk differs from other punk fiction.  Rather than presenting futures as warnings for the direction that society is heading, solarpunk presents possible futures that show an ability to adapt and enact radical change that will prevent the bleak climate disaster future.  Solarpunk resists the current status quo and the present time, allowing imagination to take over.  We can imagine the world where endless consumerism and consumption of natural resources doesn’t decimate the planet.  We can imagine a city, a civilization full of greenery where the best technology to combat climate change is the natural world itself.  Solarpunk highlights a path for humanity that allows us to solve some of the pressing issues facing society, especially climate change and raging inequalities.

Are the subjects and stories presented by solarpunk writers that far-fetched? In some Solarpunk, cities are shown to incorporate the natural world including trees incorporated into the architecture.  Architect, Stefano Boeri has begun to design and create “vertical forests”, the first built in the Italian city of Milan.  These vertical forests incorporate trees and greenery into the building design, providing habitats for wildlife and absorbing atmospheric carbon.  The future described in some stories has started to develop, and can this give us hope for the future of human civilization as climate challenges become more pressing?