United States commits to protect 30% of its land and ocean areas by 2030
Currently, only 12 percent of the nation’s land and 23 percent of its ocean are protected, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)
This archive spans the years 2017 through 2025, a period marked by rapid advances in clean energy, medicine, technology, and social equity. It collects documented breakthroughs, policy wins, and scientific achievements from the present era. If you want evidence that progress is real and ongoing, this is where to look.
VW opens a recycling plant for batteries at the end of their lives
Volkswagen expects this process to yield the raw materials needed for new battery production, such as copper, aluminum, lithium, manganese, cobalt and graphite.
Court makes “historic” ruling that France is responsible for climate inaction
The court gave the French government two months to take appropriate steps before ordering it to lower emissions or compensating for the effects of its inaction, The New York Times reported.
53 WTO members commit to ease restrictions on humanitarian food aid
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries initially restricted food exports, raising concerns that poor consumers in net food-importing countries would face difficulties in accessing food.
U.S. counties with more cannabis dispensaries are suffering fewer opioid deaths
A new study out of UC Davis suggests that increased access to cannabis stores that legally sell medical and recreational cannabis may help to reduce opioid-related deaths.
New prostate cancer test makes diagnosis in 20 minutes with near 100% accuracy
The breakthrough, developed by Korean scientists, is likely to revolutionize testing as existing methods are not only inaccurate but can result in over-diagnosis and necessitate invasive biopsies.
Pete Buttigieg becomes America’s first out Cabinet member
Buttigieg was confirmed as the Secretary of Transportation by a bipartisan vote.
Dutch court orders Shell Oil to pay for harm done to Nigerian farmers
Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary must pay punitive restitution to Nigerian villages for oil spill contamination that brought death, illness, and destruction to Nigerian farmers and communities.
Three major banks will no longer finance oil trade in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters region in Ecuador
The decision from Credit Suisse, ING, and BNP Paribas is seen as a major victory for environmental and Indigenous rights activists, Reuters reported.
President Biden orders end to fossil fuel subsidies
The executive order “directs federal agencies to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law and identify new opportunities to spur innovation, commercialization, and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure.”