U.K. carbon emissions down to 1890 levels
The data marked the fifth successive year in which the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into U.K. skies has fallen, and emissions are now 38 per cent below the level of 1990.
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.
Australia’s households install record 3.5 million panels in 2017
Rooftop solar in Australia hit a stunning new high in 2017, with homeowners, schools, and small businesses installing roughly 9,500 panels every single day. The country added 1,057 megawatts of small-scale solar capacity in a single year — enough to rival a medium-sized coal plant, but spread across millions of ordinary rooftops. Average system sizes doubled compared to five years earlier, as falling prices turned solar from a niche eco-choice into a practical way for households to take charge of their power bills. It’s a hopeful reminder that the energy transition isn’t only happening in distant policy rooms or massive infrastructure projects — sometimes it’s being built one sunny rooftop at a time.
Daniela Vega makes Oscars history as first openly transgender presenter
The actress emerged on stage to introduce Sufjan Stevens’s performance of “Mystery of Love” from Call Me By Your Name making her the first openly transgender Oscars presenter.
Nigeria to issue $400 million in green bonds
Three key projects have been targeted by the government, the energizing Education Project, the Rural Electrification Municipal and afforestation projects.
Indigenous rights get boost as Green Climate Fund approves $1 billion for new projects
The fund – to which countries have pledged more than $10 billion – adopted a landmark policy to protect indigenous people who often live in or near forests, where the fund plans to back conservation projects.
World’s first plastic-free aisle opens in Netherlands supermarket
Campaigners hail progress as Amsterdam store offers dedicated aisle of more than 700 products, with plans for a national roll-out
Norway set to ban semi-automatic guns from 2021
Norway plans to ban semi-automatic firearms as of 2021, a decade after rightwing extremist Anders Breivik’s mass shooting that left 69 people dead, a Norwegian lawmaker said on Tuesday.
Walmart raises minimum age for gun buyers to 21
Walmart, the biggest gun seller, announced late in the afternoon that it would not sell any gun to anyone under 21 years of age. It also said it would no longer sell items resembling assault-style rifles, including toys and air guns.
Washington becomes first state in the nation to pass net neutrality regulations in defiance of FCC
A bill that reinstates protections repealed by the Federal Communications Commission in December passed both houses of Washington state’s legislature Tuesday afternoon. It now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed.
Canada commits historic $1.3 billion to create new protected areas
The Trudeau government committed an unprecedented $1.3 billion in Tuesday’s Budget 2018 to protect land and water in Canada over the next five years.