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.
A new law, passed with an overwhelming majority by the European Parliament, requires companies to demonstrate their products aren’t sourced to deforested land or land with forest degradation, or else risk heavy fines.
A recently approved bill stipulates that any heating system installed in new or old buildings after January 1, 2024 must be 65% based on renewable energy.
Ghana’s approval of the R21 malaria vaccine — the first anywhere in the world — clears the way for children as young as five months to be protected against a disease that kills roughly 620,000 people every year, mostly young kids in Africa. Developed at Oxford’s Jenner Institute, R21 showed up to 80% effectiveness in early trials and is expected to cost just a couple of dollars per dose. The Serum Institute of India is preparing to produce up to 200 million doses a year, with a factory rising in Accra so supply stays close to home. After a century of scientific near-misses, an African regulator stepped forward and said: this one is ready.
With the Crimes Amendment Bill, the group of 15 islands located in the South Pacific has rescinded a 1969 law that said men who have sex with men could be jailed for up to five years.
With planned tenders for 250 GW over the next five years, India’s renewable energy capacity could reach close to 550 GW by 2030. The world currently has just over 3000 GW of renewable energy capacity total.
Spanning more than 1,700 miles across Patagonia, the route crosses 17 national parks and protects more than 27 million acres of land.
The Yasuní Strip of Diversity and Life was created to protect the area’s Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and to uphold the rights of Indigenous and farming communities in the region.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the European Parliament have also applied to join the suit.
Under the new law, people found guilty of assaulting a current or former partner will face fines or prison time, and sexual offenders will not be eligible for early release.
The U.S. EPA is granting California the legal authority to require that half of all heavy-duty truck sales in the state be fully electric by 2035, an ambitious standard that will go beyond federal requirements.
