More than 1,000 Google employees signed a letter demanding the company reduce its carbon emissions
Googlers are pushing for a commitment to zero emissions by 2030 and to cancel contracts with fossil fuel companies.
Citizens
This archive collects milestones and solutions-focused stories involving citizens — everyday people taking action in their communities, organizing locally, and driving change at the grassroots level. From civic participation to community-led initiatives, these stories highlight what ordinary people accomplish when they work together.
YouTubers and social media influencers unite to plant 20 million trees
YouTube stars and social media influencers are coming together to tackle climate change. YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, is spearheading the massive online campaign to plant 20 million trees.
NASA astronauts successfully complete first ever all-woman spacewalk
Christina Koch and Jessica Meir completed the first spacewalk with an all-women team. Since cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do a spacewalk in 1984, women have participated in 42 spacewalks.
Millions march worldwide in youth-led climate strike
An estimated four million protesters in over 150 countries marched in the youth led global climate strike.
Japan records lowest suicide rate since statistics were first kept in 1978
2018 marks the ninth consecutive with a year-on-year decrease in suicides in Japan and the first time in 37 years for the total to fall below 21,000.
Overdose deaths in the United States drop for first time in two decades
Overdose deaths in the United States finally reversed course in 2018, ending nearly two decades of almost unbroken annual increases — a sign that the coordinated public health response is starting to work. Expanded naloxone access, medication-assisted treatment, and community outreach all appear to have contributed, though no single intervention gets the credit. The picture inside the data is mixed: while opioid deaths fell, deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine rose, suggesting the epidemic shifted rather than ended. Still, experts say this is evidence that scaling up treatment saves lives — and that doing so remains the central, unfinished challenge.
48% of the new cars sold in Norway in 2019 are fully electric
Almost half of new cars sold in Norway in the first six months of 2019 were fully electric, up from just over 25% in the same period last year.
Michael Bloomberg launches $500 million campaign to end coal
UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael Bloomberg has announced Beyond Carbon campaign to close the United States’ fleet of coal plants and halt new gas plants.
Thousands of Japanese women join campaign to ban workplace high heel requirements
More than 19,000 people in Japan have signed a petition to ban office dress codes which force women to wear high heels to work.
Denver voters approve decriminalizing “magic mushrooms”
Denver voters approved a measure to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms. Psilocybin has been touted for treating a variety of psychological issues, including depression.