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.

The Shard

U.K. sets world’s toughest climate target for 2035

By / / Good news links

The U.K. government has announced a legally binding commitment to hit a 78 percent emissions reduction target by 2035, as compared to 1990 levels, on the way to net zero emissions by 2050. For the first time, this target includes aviation and shipping. The U.K.’s carbon emissions peaked at around 900 megatons per year in 1991, and the 2022 figure is on pace to be below 500 Mt, representing around a 45% emissions reduction achievement since 2002.

Offshore wind turbines, for article on South Korea offshore wind farm

South Korea unveils $43 billion plan for world’s largest offshore wind farm

By / / Good News For Humankind

Offshore wind is about to get a new heavyweight: South Korea is investing $43 billion to build what would become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, planted in the shallow, breezy waters of the country’s Southwest Sea. The plan is remarkable not just for its scale but for how it came together. Local fishing leaders representing around 200 vessels — many initially opposed — signed on after winning compensation and equity stakes in the project itself. One cooperative leader who fought the plan now calls it something to work with, not against. For a mountainous country with little room for sprawling land-based renewables, this is a real path to displacing coal — and a template other coastal nations chasing net-zero will be watching closely.