2024 is set to be a record-breaking year for democracy. Around half the world’s population will vote in an election over the next 12 months. Ballot boxes will be rolled out in the US, where I am in the UK and across the European Union for the European Parliament vote in June, to name just a few.

From one perspective, the prospect of millions of people expressing their fundamental rights at the same time is thrilling. From another, it is deeply anxiety inducing. Our political identities are evolving in ways that we don’t yet fully understand. One of the most confusing of these evolutions is the blurring line between libertarianism and authoritarianism — this discombobulating sense that people are voting for autocratic leaders and calling it freedom. That matters in the US and European Parliament elections, where extremist politicians who gleefully talk of rolling back our democratic norms are standing for office and enjoying a popularity that many find difficult to understand.

Political psychologist Barry Richards seeks to pin down this paradox in a fascinating article to start this bumper election year. For him, the pandemic offers evidence of how we got here and how what he terms “the fragility of the modern self” leaves us vulnerable to voting away our own right to vote.

If you’ve decided to go plant-based in 2024 and need inspiration to stick to your goals, have a look at this new study showing the significant contribution you’d be making to air quality. Our food systems are responsible for a third of our global greenhouse gas emissions, so by cutting back on animal products, you’d be making a big difference.

Others are exploring how agricultural processes themselves could be made more planet friendly, including wine. It’s possible that if we grew our grapes like the Romans did — by trailing their vines into trees instead of lining them up in rows, we might end up with more productive and environmentally sustainable vineyards.

And if neither of these ideas motivate you to go a bit greener in 2024, consider that without a healthier planet, you may have to kiss goodbye to your winter ski holidays — because skiing will no longer exist.