Nations

This archive collects milestones and progress stories involving nations — countries and their governments — acting to improve lives, protect rights, or address shared challenges. From policy breakthroughs to international cooperation, these stories show what countries are doing right.

Solar farm in the desert, for article on Al Dhafra solar power plant

The United Arab Emirates opens the world’s largest single-site solar farm

By / / Good News For Humankind

The world’s largest single-site solar plant just came online in the UAE, and it’s powering nearly 200,000 homes from a stretch of desert outside Abu Dhabi. Al Dhafra generates 2 gigawatts of clean electricity and is expected to cut 2.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year — roughly the equivalent of taking 470,000 cars off the road. What makes it really remarkable, though, is the price: the project locked in one of the cheapest utility-scale solar tariffs ever recorded, around 1.32 US cents per kilowatt-hour. That number sends a signal far beyond the Gulf, showing sun-rich countries everywhere that large-scale clean power is now genuinely affordable — and that even oil-producing nations can help lead the transition.

Ocean Thermal Energy Generator Barge, for article on ocean thermal energy conversion

World’s first commercial-scale ocean thermal energy generator to be built off the coast of São Tomé and Príncipe

By / / Good News For Humankind

Ocean thermal energy conversion just crossed a threshold that has eluded engineers for nearly 140 years. UK-based Global OTEC Resources received independent certification for the cold-water riser pipe at the heart of its floating platform — the very component that has sunk previous attempts to turn ocean temperature gradients into electricity. The flagship vessel, Dominique, is a 1.5-MW system planned for deployment off São Tomé and Príncipe, an island nation of about 220,000 people that currently leans on imported fossil fuels. Because deep ocean temperatures stay constant, a working OTEC plant generates power around the clock, offering tropical island communities something solar and wind cannot: steady, locally produced baseload clean energy on the front lines of climate change.

Whale's tail, for article on sperm whale reserve

Dominica to create world’s first sperm whale reserve

By / / Good News For Humankind

Dominica’s new sperm whale reserve will safeguard roughly 200 whales living year-round in an 800-square-kilometer stretch of ocean off the island’s western coast — the first protected area in the world designed specifically for this species. Commercial fishing and large ships will be kept out, while local artisanal fishers can keep working the waters they’ve always known. Scientists have found that these whales pass down distinct cultural traditions across generations, a kind of learning once believed to belong only to humans. By treating whale protection as part of its own climate resilience, a small island nation is showing that nature-based conservation can be ambitious, community-minded, and quietly revolutionary all at once.

Colombia rainforest landscape

Deforestation in Colombia down 70% year-on-year

By / / Good news links

Since taking power last year, leftist President Gustavo Petro has enacted a slate of new policies aimed at protecting Colombian forests, including paying locals to conserve woodland. The recent gains in Colombia mirror similar advances in the Brazilian Amazon, where leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has cracked down on forest clearing.

View of mountains and water in British Columbia, for article on BC nature conservation agreement

British Columbia, Canadian government, and First Nations announce $1 billion conservation agreement

By / / Good News For Humankind

British Columbia’s new $1 billion nature agreement aims to more than double the share of the province protected from industrial activity, building on roughly 15 percent today. Signed by Canada’s federal government, the province, and First Nations leaders, it’s the first three-way conservation deal of its kind in the country — with Indigenous nations recognized as co-architects rather than consultees. The funding will go toward safeguarding old-growth forests, restoring degraded ecosystems, and supporting the salmon-bearing watersheds that communities have relied on for generations. As nearly 200 countries work toward the global goal of protecting 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, this framework offers a hopeful template for how conservation and Indigenous leadership can move forward together.