Good News for Humankind 🌏

The world’s latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more

December 16 – 22 2024 C.E.

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China completes historic 1,800-mile “Great Green Wall”​

China has finished a 46-year campaign to encircle the Taklamakan Desert with trees, part of national efforts to end desertification and curb sandstorms. Efforts to enclose the desert with trees began in 1978 with the launch of China’s “Three-North Shelterbelt” project, colloquially known as the Great Green Wall. More than 116,000 square miles of trees have been planted, helping capture massive amounts of carbon and bringing China’s total forest coverage above 25% by the end of last year, up from around 10% in 1949.

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​Dominique Pelicot sentenced to 20 years in prison in landmark French rape trial​

A French judge has found the former husband of Gisèle Pelicot, who admitted to drugging and raping her repeatedly over the course of almost a decade and inviting dozens of other men to assault her as well, guilty of aggravated rape. Forty-nine men whom Dominique Pelicot brought into his home to assault his wife were also convicted as part of the same trial. Over the course of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot was praised for her courage and became a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France and around the world.

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​Renewable power set to overtake fossil fuels in the U.K. this year for the first time​

While particularly windy periods have meant certain days in the last few years have been dominated by renewable power as turbines lit up the grid, this is the first time through an entire calendar year that renewable energy will be greater than power generated from burning oil, gas, and coal. The shift is driven largely by a decline in production from coal, gas and oil, as well as growing wind, solar, and biomass power, according to think tank Ember.

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​TikTok to ban beauty filters for teens​

In the coming weeks, under-18s using the massively popular social media platform will find themselves unable to access viral filters like ‘Bold Glamour’, which dramatically change their appearance. The beauty filter ban is a response to issues relating to body image and self-esteem among teens. ELLE Australia has previously reported that 60% of young people say social media made them feel “dissatisfied with their body”—a figure that has grown by 12% since 2022.

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​Tokyo to make daycare free for all preschool children​

The world’s most populous city plans to make daycare free for all preschool children starting in September, the city governor has announced. The move aims to reduce the financial burden on families by expanding a policy of free daycare for second-born and subsequent children to first-borns as well. While many developed countries are struggling with low birth rates, the problem is particularly acute in Japan where the population has been declining for years.

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​Construction begins on the Great Wall of China (~221 B.C.E.)​

The Great Wall of China is an ancient series of walls and fortifications, totaling more than 13,000 miles in length, located in northern China. Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of China and its long and vivid history, the Great Wall was originally conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. as a means of preventing incursions from barbarian nomads. To this day, construction of the “Wan Li Chang Cheng,” or 10,000-Li-Long Wall, is one of the most ambitious building projects ever undertaken by any civilization.

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​Humanity ends net deforestation and transitions into net reforestation (2030 C.E. ???)​

Fulfilling their 2021 pledge, the world’s nations begin growing back global forest cover through massive mobilization of conservation and tree planting efforts. The increased tree coverage worldwide proves an immensely potent tool in the fight against climate change and a boon for biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide.

These milestones have been added to the ​Archive of Human Genius​ – our database of social change milestones – past, present & future.

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This week’s calendar

• ​GET S*** DONE Work Group​ every weekday at 10:30am-12pm PT (online)
• ​Bellingham Men’s Circle​ on Monday, December 30 from 6-8pm PT (in-person)

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Goodbye Spark of Genius!

Hi beautiful people,

A lot has been shifting lately in my life lately. Some of it scary and uncomfortable. Some of it really exciting. Most of it a little or a lot of both. One of these big shifts is that I’ve decided to shut down Spark of Genius – the 501c3 non-profit organization I founded and led and which hosts this newsletter – at the end of this year. In its place, I am launching a new business called Peter Schulte Coaching LLC.

Why am I doing this? The concrete impetus for this move is that it’s less administrative work and makes more sense tax-wise. The work I’ve done over the years has shifted enough that it really feels more suited to a business than a non-profit. I also noticed some part of me always feels a little cringey announcing my practice as “Spark of Genius.” I loved the old name “Kindling.” Spark of Genius has never felt quite as right to me.

Maybe more than all that, this feels like tearing down the artifice I’ve built around what I do. In some ways, it felt like I was hiding behind an organization name and whatever sense of credibility having 501c3 status offered me. So this just feels like a continuation of the process of “coming out” into and owning my full authenticity.

What does this mean to you? Basically nothing. All the newsletters and services you have come to expect will stay the same. They will just be coming from the email address [email protected] rather than [email protected]. I’ll slowly begin transitioning to this new sending address starting next week.

To make sure these new emails don’t go to spam, add this new email address to your contacts! Gmail users can learn how to do so ​here​. Outlook users can learn how to do so ​here​.

Love,
Peter