Following a successful five year pilot in its capital, Estonia is set to become the first country in the world to make public transport free everywhere, for everyone.
Mexico has banned cosmetic testing on animals after Save Ralph, an animated film about a rabbit cosmetic tester, spurred 1.3 million people to petition for new legislation. Mexico is the first country in North America and 41st country in the world to enact the ban.
Has there been any good news this year? Glad you asked. Amazing as it may seem, 2020 had big wins for conservation, living standards, peace, safety and human rights, clean energy, and yes, even global health.
THREAD.
Amidst all the excitement about General Motors going all electric, you might have missed even bigger news that ZF Friedrichshafen, one of the world's top five automotive component manufacturers, has officially ceased R&D on internal combustion engines. Trickle becoming a flood...
The things that computers are best at
—calculation, precision, and objectivity—
are distinct from the qualities that belong primarily to humans
—purpose, passion, and understanding.
Professor Ken Goldberg
William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering
Berkeley
Kazakhstan is officially nuclear free, after grinding down the last 2.9 kgs of enriched uranium, making it useless for bomb-making. The historic moment comes after 30 years of denuclearization, one of the least celebrated, yet most successful examples of post-Cold War diplomacy.
Lake trout are reproducing again in Lake Erie, where native fish have long been considered extinct. Biologists and researchers have worked tirelessly over six decades to improve water quality and habitat in the area - this is a well-deserved reward for their efforts.
The WHO says that malaria deaths fell to the lowest level ever recorded last year. The mortality rate has dropped by almost 60% in the last two decades, from 24.7 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 10.1 per 100,000 in 2019.
Source:
@WHO
In a remarkable feat of eco-engineering, oysters are saving Kutubdia Island in Bangladesh from fast-rising seas. Marine scientists have worked with island locals for nine years to create oyster-encrusted reefs that buffer the coastline from waves and support marine life.
In a quiet victory for animal welfare, 70 million hens have been raised cage-free in America over the past six years, as the use of battery cages rapidly declines. Progress continues, with Utah recently becoming the eighth state to ban battery cages.
The biggest global story you haven't heard about right now is India's sanitation drive. Since 2014, 90 million toilets have been built, 93% of households now have access, and 500 million people have stopped defecating in the open.
In one of the largest shifts of public opinion ever recorded, Gallup says that 94% of American adults now approve of interracial marriage, a huge leap from 4% in 1958. People over the age of 50 experienced the biggest shift, increasing their approval by 64% in the past 30 years.
23/ Spain reported 894 Iberian lynx in the wild, up from just 92 in 2002, one of best conservation success stories of modern times. EU also earmarked €18M to keep the project running, giving conservationists a real shot at restoring a stable, genetically diverse population.
Since 2010, almost 21 million km2 has been added to the world’s network of national parks and conservation areas, an area greater than the land mass of Russia. That means about 17% of land and inland water ecosystems and 8% of marine areas are now within formal protected areas.
A Japanese startup has created 3D printed sushi in pixellated, 8 bit versions of the original. The goal is to provide 'faxable' food for everyone from refugees to astronauts.
46/ Falkland Islands announced this year it has cleared all landmines. Tens of thousands of mines have been removed since 2009 by a team of specialist de-miners, many from Zimbabwe. "We never thought the islands would be completely mine free, this is a momentous change."
Sinaloa has become the fifth state in Mexico to ban bullfighting. Annual bullfights across Mexico result in the killing of thousands of bulls every year but the tide is turning with 73% of Mexicans supporting a nationwide ban.
Puffins were hunted to extinction on islands off Maine in the 19th C. Conservationists started the world’s first restoration of a seabird to habitats in 1981.There are now more than1,300 pairs of puffins across Maine, the only US state where Puffins breed
German engineers have developed a hydrogen paste that remains inert up to 250°C, and carries ten times the energy of a similar weight in lithium batteries. A 'paste-powered' vehicle would have a range comparable to or greater than one running on petrol.
The CDC has released new data showing that cancer, the USA's second leading cause of mortality, has seen historic drops in death rates. Between 2001 to 2020, they fell by 27%, from 196.5 deaths per 100,000 people, to 144.1 per 100,000.
An experimental Ebola vaccine is proving highly effective in the DRC - like, 97.5% effective - and is now being administered to all frontline health workers. Naturally, front page news everywhere.
30/ Togo became first African country to eliminate sleeping sickness. Achievement comes after more than two decades of surveillance and screening, and is also part of a bigger success story - there are now fewer than 1,000 cases of sleeping sickness globally.
In the past 20 years almost every country in SSAfrica has made gains in female literacy. In 2000, proportion of women who could read and write was 46%; today, it's close to 60%. Even better, literacy rate for young women (15-24) has soared to 72%, now just below male peers.
Want to fight climate change? Educate girls.
Case in point: the UN says India’s population growth rate has slowed substantially in the 2010-2019 period.
50% fewer women are now becoming mothers at the age of 18.
Source:
It's here - our annual list of good news.
We know there's been so much heartbreak, loss & grief in 2020. Even during the darkest of times though, millions of people have rolled up their sleeves and done the work. These are their stories.
11/ New satellite data revealed this year that UK’s woodlands now cover as much of the country as they did during the Middle Ages, thanks to 20th-century forestry and rewilding practices (Robin Hood eat your heart out).
Japan’s ten year cancer survival rate has increased to 58.9%. This is a disease that was once said to be incurable, but the survival rate has steadily increased alongside medical advances. Prostate cancer in Japan now has the highest survival rate at 99.2%
In the six years since the Paris Agreement was signed, the global pipeline of new coal plants has shrunk dramatically. More than three quarters of planned projects have been shelved, 44 governments have committed to ending coal, and a further 33 have cancelled their pipelines.
The US government is reinstating environmental protections for three major national monuments ripped away by the Trump administration. The Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts off the coast of New England.
Drones in Rwanda have now made over 265,000 commercial deliveries of medical supplies, and account for 3/4 of blood donations delivered outside Kigali. The blood arrives an average of 90 mins earlier than by road, and there's been a 67% decrease in blood product expiration.
1/ The British territory of Tristan da Cunha created the largest ever protected area in the Atlantic Ocean, and 4th largest in the world. The 687,000 km² sanctuary is a no-take zone, meaning fishing and other harmful activities are now prohibited.
Indian state of Karnataka has made bus travel free for all women. In the first nine days of the scheme, more than 40 million women climbed aboard. The policy could be life-changing–in India’s patriarchal culture, one way of controlling women’s movement is by denying them money.
28/ At the beginning of this year, only thing world’s scientists knew about coronavirus was its genetic profile. Less than 12 months later, world had multiple vaccines, effectively kickstarting humanity’s fightback. It’s one of the greatest medical achievements of all time.
32/ Africa announced this year it is officially free from wild polio. 25 years ago disease still paralyzed more than 75,000 children every year. Since then, billions of oral vaccines have prevented 1.8 million cases. One of the greatest healthcare success stories of all time.
26/ For 2nd year in a row Iceland, one of three remaining whaling nations, decided not to hunt whales, thanks to changing public opinion, falling consumption of whale meat. Announcements by country’s two whaling companies suggest this may be the permanent end of the annual hunt.
4/ In November, 14 countries, responsible for 40% of the world’s coastlines, signed a new pledge to end overfishing, restore fish populations and stop the flow of ocean plastic in the next 10 years.
Remember the good old days when terrorism was front-page news? The 2020 Global Terrorism Index is reporting that deaths from terrorism have fallen for the fifth consecutive year.
Source:
@VOH_
22/ Kenya reported elephant population more than doubled from 16,000 in 1989 to 34,000 today. Poaching also down significantly — only 7 in 2020, compared to 34 in 2019 and 80 in 2018. Lions living in the country have increased by 25% too, from 2,000 in 2010 to 2,489 in 2020.
There's an extremely important and hopeful paper out in Nature this week. The researchers find that if all the countries of the world fulfil their climate commitments, we will likely limit climate change to just under 2°C.
The Magpie River in Canada has been declared a living entity and granted legal rights after local environmental groups campaigned for permanent protection. 14 countries now have rivers and ecosystems have won protection with 'nature rights.'
The Biden administration has committed to an ambitious conservation goal, backed by science, to protect 30% of US land and coastal seas by 2030. With only 12% of land currently conserved, that will require protecting an area twice the state of Texas to reach the 30/30 target.
Women’s rights activists in Iran have campaigned for a bill against gender-based violence for 16 years. Hassan Rouhani’s administration passed a bill on the 4th January this year that protects women against domestic and other forms of gender-based violence
Canada's poverty rate has reached the lowest level ever recorded. The proportion of people below the poverty line is now 9.5%, down from 15.6% in 2006.
25/ Blue whales are returning to South Georgia. Although hunting blue whales was banned in 1965, the leviathans have remained rare visitors to Antarctica – until now. A 2020 survey by the British Antarctic Survey recorded 58 sightings, indicating that the blues are coming back.
13/ A grassroots effort to restore Appalachia’s mountaintops has now seen over 187 million trees planted on over 1,000 km² of former mining sites, and following a concerted reintroduction effort, those sites are now home to the largest population of elk east of the Mississippi.
Remember COVID-19? We’ve come a long way… now down to 0.23 deaths per 1 million people worldwide, a level last reached on March 25, 2020. New variants are increasing the number of cases yes, but global vaccination efforts have reduced hospitalisations as well as fatalities.
"Pandemics reveal who society’s real key workers are. Not the bankers. Not the politicians. Not the hedge fund managers. It’s the nurses. The doctors. The delivery drivers. The carers. The porters. The teachers. The shelf stackers. The check out staff."
2/ Belize added another jewel in its crown as a global leader in ocean conservation. In August, it increased the size of its Sapodilla Cayes reserve to 1,300 km² to encompass the Cayman Crown, one of the best preserved reef ecosystems in the region.
14/ 2M people in India planted 250M trees to tackle climate change, Pakistan created 15 national parks, expanding protected areas from 12% to 15%, and Afghanistan announced Bamyan Plateau, second-biggest national park at 4,200 km², home to the ibex, urial and Persian leopard.
16/ Attitudes in China towards the eating of wild animals changed drastically in 2020. Up to 90% of the public now supports strict bans on the trade and consumption of wildlife, and more than 15,000 people were prosecuted for wildlife crimes this year, a 66% increase from 2019.
9/ At the turn of this century,
@StatenIslUSA
landfill was the largest garbage dump in the world, 3X larger than Central Park, with trash mounds 20 stories high. Today, it's a green oasis. The radical fix? Bury the rubbish, plant some grass and do nothing for 20 years.
8/ In Pacific Northwest,
@TheYurokTribe
began reintroduction of the Californian Condor to the Klamath River, and also signed a historic deal to begin the largest dam removal project in US history, freeing up 600km of spawning grounds.
99/ and finally sorry, but we couldn’t resist. After 4 years of no pets in White House (longest stretch since 1840) two German shepherds, Champ and Major, are moving in. Major will be the first 'First Dog' from a shelter.
For the first time this century, Beijing’s air quality met China’s national standards in 2021. The biggest achievement was the reduction of PM2.5, the most dangerous pollutant, which fell 13% last year, with levels down to a third of what they were a decade ago
33/ There was a major breakthrough in 2020 in fight against AIDS. New ARV administered as injection six times a year shown to be 89% more effective compared to standard ARVs, taken as a daily pill. "A major, major advance. I don’t think we can overemphasize its importance."
A new cure for tuberculosis (the world's leading infectious cause of death) has been approved by the US FDA, clearing the path for global distribution.
12/ For the last 20 years the world’s largest seagrass restoration project has been running off coast of Virginia, and during that time the ecosystem has gone from near death to full flowering. Over 70 million eelgrass seeds have been planted by volunteers.
20/ Germany started converting 62 military bases west of the old Iron Curtain into nature reserves, Peru began reforesting area around Machu Picchu, and Seattle reported that after two decades of clean ups, Duwamish River is cleanest it's been in 100 years.
We thought it was pretty amazing to find out this year that COVID-19 vaccines prevented 19.8 million deaths during 2021. India averted the most deaths at 4.2 million, followed by the United States at 1.9 million and Brazil at just over a million.
5/ The most incredible environmental group you've never heard of,
@NG_PristineSeas
, revealed this year that in past decade they've inspired the creation of 23 marine reserves - two-thirds of the world’s fully protected marine areas, covering an area of more than five million km²
An agreement between UNICEF and the Serum Institute of India has dropped global price of the pneumonia vaccine to $2 per dose. The 43% drop expands protection against one of the world’s deadliest diseases, and will prevent the deaths of millions of kids.
6/ In December, a new report by
@FAO
revealed that fisheries in the Mediterranean & Black Sea are turning the corner. Percentage of overexploited stocks fell from 88% to 75% between 2014 and 2018, and since 2018, the number of fish stocks with high relative biomass has doubled.
24/ Two decades ago, Burmese roofed turtle was thought to be extinct. Conservationists now reporting 1,000 animals, some of which have now been successfully released into the wild in Myanmar. “This is one of the best global turtle conservation successes we have."
7/ China issued new rules this year for its distant water fishing fleet. Ships will no longer be allowed to 'go dark' or approach marine protected areas, ship captains who break the rules will lose their license for five years and company managers will be banned for three years.
49/ Over past 5 years Germany has opened borders to 1.7M people fleeing war, persecution: arguably greatest humanitarian act of 21st century. Good move. In August, country revealed more than half employed, paying taxes, and 80% say they feel a strong sense of belonging.
3/ In October, the Seychelles reported that one third of its territorial waters are now protected, covering 410,000 km² of ocean and Samoa committed to 36,000 km² of new fully-protected marine protected areas by 2025, 30% of its territorial waters.
18/ Global meat production fell by more than 1% in 2020. This came off the back of a decline in 2019 too (there have never been two consecutive years of decline). We’re already at peak pasture, and it now looks like we might be approaching peak pork and beef.
10/ A new study from
@YaleE360
revealed that e-waste by Americans has been declining since 2015. Biggest contributor is disappearance of bulky cathode-ray tube TVs & monitors. Devices entering waste stream also levelling off, due to 'convergence' e.g. smartphones now = cameras
37. Guinea Worm inched closer to being the third ever disease to be fully eradicated. In 2022, only nine cases were recorded in two countries, an extraordinary reduction for a disease that infected 3.5 million people in 21 countries 35 years ago.
A rewilding project in England that reclaimed 128,000 acres of industrial wasteland three decades ago has blossomed from a single tree into what's now known as the National Forest. The forest has created 5,000 new jobs and there are plans to create a new 25-acre wood.
29/ In 2020 Myanmar became 2nd country in southeast Asia to eliminate trachoma, world's leading infectious cause of blindness. Bigger global trend: people at risk has been reduced by 92%, from 1.5 billion in 2002 to 137 million in 2020. 13 countries have eliminated it altogether.
27/ Bowhead whalesare approaching pre-commercial whaling numbers in US waters. Once hunted to just a few thousand individuals, and on the brink of disappearing forever, their numbers rebounded to about 10,000 by the turn of the 21st century and have now reached at least 16,800.
35/ The
@WHO
revealed malaria deaths have reached the lowest level ever recorded, a drop of almost 60% in the last two decades. Take a moment to let this sink in: between 2000 and 2019, 1.5 billion malaria cases and 7.6 million malaria deaths were averted globally.
21/ Senegal revealed 152M mangrove buds planted in past decade, Madagascar launched drive to plant 60M trees to mark 60 years independence, and Uganda launched project to restore 3M trees to Albertine Rift Forests, close to where
@JaneGoodallInst
began her career.
19/ Poland, world’s third-largest fur producer, banned fur farming (law will spare lives of five million animals) and Kopenhagen Fur, world’s largest fur auction house, announced it would close its doors within the next three years, citing the impact of COVID-19.
17/ Vietnam banned sale of protected wildlife as well as all imports. New directive includes recommendations conservationists have been trying to get passed for years, including tougher penalties for crimes involving wildlife trade and cracking down on domestic markets.
More than 70% of the world’s countries have now removed the death penalty in law or in practice. 99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn't Hear About in 2022 brought to you by Future Crunch and
@progressntwrk
.
After 40 years of effort, researchers have finally succeeded in switching off KRAS-G12C, one of the most common cancer-causing genetic mutations in the human body. The finding promises to improve treatment for thousands of patients with lung and colorectal cancer.
Vietnam's gotten the memo. Last year, rooftop solar went from 378 MW to 9.8 GW. The country now boasts the highest installed capacity of solar in Southeast Asia. In the last few months Vietnam has also scrapped plans for 9.5 GW of coal-fired power.
47/ Italy abolished anti-immigrant decrees installed by former populists, and reinstated humanitarian protection for migrants, refugees. Government also cut time for citizenship from four years to three. "Tonight a wall comes down. Onward towards a country with more humanity."
An 87-year-old scientist named Yuan Longping, known as China's "Father of Hybrid Rice," has successfully developed a strain of rice that can be grown using saltwater.
The Serum Institute of India, has developed a cervical cancer vaccine that costs less than $5 & is aiming for 200 million doses by 2024. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, causing an estimated 342,000 deaths a year.
We featured a story about Paolo Fanciulli, a fisherman in Italy who created an underwater sculpture gallery to stop bottom-trawling along the coastline. Today Paolo’s anti-trawling sculptures span from Porto Santo Stefano to the Ombrone River.
34/ Meanwhile,
@UNAIDS
says deaths continue to fall. Number dying from AIDS has fallen by 5.4% in last year, reaching lowest level since 1993. Also crucially, for first time ever, more than two thirds of HIV-positive people now have access to anti-retroviral treatments.
15/ Singapore created its new 400 ha Sungei Buloh Park, Vietnam established 22,132 ha tropical forest nature reserve called Dong Chau-Khe Nuoc Trong, whose name means “clear water in the ravine" home to 40 globally threatened species.
37/ Biggest threat to children around the world? Not AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis - it's pneumonia. In 2011 it claimed 1.3M children before fifth birthday (18% of all child deaths around the world). Last year, number dropped to 672,000, almost 50% in less than a decade.
36/ The
@WHO
also published its annual tuberculosis report this year, showing that between 2015 and 2019, global deaths fell by 14%. In fact, progress against TB puts malaria in the shade - since 2000, treatments have averted more than 60 million deaths.
Rwanda: life expectancy up from 49.7 years in 2001 to 69.6 in 2022, over 90% of the population has health insurance, thousands of new clinics have been built in the last two years, and it's on track to meet all the MDGs on maternal mortality, malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS.
Good news down under. Australian homes and businesses installed just over 3GW of rooftop solar in 2021, a new annual record. There's now about 17GW of solar on the country's roofs. Oh, and the state of South Australia just ran for one week on wind and sunshine alone.
43/ New research this year showed that risk of a person developing dementia in US and Europe is now 13% lower than it was in 2010 (Alzheimer’s is falling too, by 16% per decade). Researchers think it's down to less smoking, better cardiovascular health, and better education.
56/ This one didn’t make headlines. Since 1965,
@GallupNews
has been polling Americans about whether they want immigration to decrease, increase, or stay the same. In 2020, for first time ever, more Americans said they wanted to increase immigration than decrease it.
3 years ago, Pakistan launched the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami, a plan to reforest vast swathes of one of the most deforested countries in the world. Critics scoffed, but they're being forced to eat their words: the country is on track to plant 1.5 billion trees by the end of 2021.
76/ US imprisonment rate reached lowest level in more than two decades, with greatest decline coming among black Americans, whose imprisonment rate has decreased 34% since 2006. As rates have fallen, former prisons, jails, and detention centers are being converted.
41/ According to
@BBC
, more than one million people in the UK gave up smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic. More people quit smoking in the year to June 2020 than in any year since surveys began in 2007.