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.
According to the Washington Post, the Danish Parliament voted on December 3 to end offshore gas and oil extraction, which had started in 1972 and made the country the largest producer in the European Union. The Danish government says it is “now putting an end to the fossil fuel era.”
The Period Products Bill, which passed unanimously, requires local authorities to ensure that period products are generally obtainable free of charge. Schools and colleges must ensure period products are freely available to students, and designated public places must also make the products available.
The U.K. government initially announced the ban in 2017 with a deadline of 2040. The deadline was met with criticism. Experts warned that the 2040 deadline was too late, and the UK would not achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
A new report shows that there were 1,700 new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men in 2000. In 2019, new HIV diagnoses stood at 1,500. HIV transmission has fallen by 80% between 2011 when there was an estimated peak of 2,700 cases and 2019 when there was an estimated 540.
The government of Tristan da Cunha, a four-island archipelago of about 250 people, has announced that it will be protecting approximately 700,000 square kilometers of its waters, creating the world’s fourth-largest Marine Protected Area.
The Philippines has stopped accepting new proposals for coal-based power projects to encourage investment in other energy sources like natural gas and renewables, the government’s energy chief said.
In a policy speech in the national assembly South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in said that South Korea, one of the world’s most fossil fuel-reliant economies, would “actively respond” to the climate emergency “with the international community and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”.
Numbers of gray wolves have soared over the last four decades—from under a hundred refugees hiding out in northeastern Minnesota and Michigan’s upper peninsula to around 6,000 individuals.
In 2019, the levels of anthropogenic SO2 emissions fell worldwide by 6%. In only the second time ever, SO2 emissions fell in all three of the countries most responsible for emitting it: China, India, and Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan will become country carbon neutral by 2050, Bloomberg reported. As the world’s third-largest economy, this will require a “fundamental shift” away from coal, The Washington Post reported.
