This archive collects stories from Good News for Humankind involving nations — countries and their governments — as key actors in progress. Across 1,807 articles, you’ll find reporting on policy wins, international cooperation, and measurable improvements in health, climate, rights, and more.
Electric vehicles sales in China, the world’s largest automotive market, are surging. All plugin models accounted for 37% of the market in 2023, up from just 6% at the end of 2021. Full electrics (BEVs) alone accounted for 25%. Plugins are expected to cross the 50% mark for plugins and electric by 2026, with BEVs likely to account for over a third of sales, if current trends persist.
In February, 45 companies and organizations in Europe’s largest economy will introduce a 4-day workweek for half a year. Employees will continue to receive their full salary. Advocates argue that a 4-day workweek would increase worker productivity and, by consequence, help alleviate the country’s skilled labor shortage.
Palau has become the first nation to ratify the high seas treaty, a legally binding international agreement that seeks to protect and manage ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. Other countries, including Chile and the Maldives, are engaged in their ratification processes, pushing the treaty closer to becoming international law. The establishment of the high seas treaty has been under debate for nearly two decades, but U.N. member states finally reached a consensus to approve the treaty in March 2023.
Under draft rules that follow the “polluter pays principle”, companies that sell medicines and cosmetics will have to cover at least 80% of the extra costs needed to get rid of tiny pollutants that are dirtying urban wastewater. Governments will pay the rest, members of the bloc said, in an effort to prevent vital products from becoming too expensive or scarce.
Before the ban, Belgium allowed the import of trophy species vulnerable to extinction such as hippopotamus, cheetahs and polar bears. The new law will stop the import of hunting trophies from many species currently at risk of extinction or that could be threatened unless trade is limited. The bill will protect all species listed in the European Regulation on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora.
Mexico’s government recently announced the creation of 20 new protected areas across 12 states and two coastal areas in the country, covering roughly 5.7 million acres. Officials introduced four new national parks, four “flora and fauna protection areas,” seven sanctuaries, two biosphere reserves and three “natural resources protection areas” under the protection of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas.
The European Union pumped out 8% less carbon dioxide from the fossil fuels it burned in 2023 than it did in 2022, pushing these emissions down to their lowest level in 60 years. The fall is the steepest yearly drop on record behind 2020, when governments shuttered factories and grounded flights to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Malaria vaccine rollout reached a historic milestone in January 2024 when Cameroon became the first country to administer the RTS,S vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, as part of a routine national immunization program. More than 662,000 doses began reaching children across the country, targeting a disease responsible for 95% of global malaria deaths, most among children under five. The moment caps over 35 years of development and a successful WHO recommendation in 2021. With 19 additional African countries planning to follow, the rollout could eventually protect millions of children each year.
A new study from Public Health Scotland has found that no cases of cervical cancer have been detected in young women who have been fully-vaccinated as part of the HPV immunization program, concluding that the vaccine was “highly effective” in preventing the development of the cancer. Scotland’s HPV vaccination program started in 2008 with girls offered the vaccine in their first year at secondary school.
The Biden administration has now canceled more than $136 billion in student debt for over 3.7 million Americans, according to the White House. Around $1.7 billion of this new aid will go to 29,700 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans. In addition, 43,900 borrowers who have worked in public service for a decade or more will receive $3.2 billion in loan cancellation.
