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Good News for Humankind 🌏

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

January 27 2025 C.E.


The Democratic Republic of Congo to create the Earth’s largest protected tropical forest reserve

An area covering the size of France will now be protected through partnerships with communities that integrates conservation and restoration with green economic development. This forms the world’s largest protected forest area and consists of a network of economic hubs built on sustainable agricultural production and powered by renewable energy derived from the hydropower potential of the Congo River. The initiative aims to create 500,000 new jobs and transfer a million tons of food annually to Kinshasa, Africa’s largest city.


In the last 30 years, almost everybody in Bangladesh gained access to basic electricity

In 1991, fewer than 15% of people in Bangladesh had access to electricity. Thirty years later, access was almost universal. Over 100 million Bangladeshis have gained access to electricity during this time. This enables them to light their homes, use household appliances, or stay connected through phones and the internet. The U.N. has set a target to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. Currently, about 9 in 10 people worldwide have basic access to electricity.


Ecuador’s coastal ecosystems have rights, constitutional court rules

The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have rights of nature, including the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions, and evolutionary processes,” per Chapter 7, Articles 71 to 74 in the country’s constitution. This is not the first time that Ecuador has established legal rights for nature. In fact, Ecuador was the first country in the world to establish that nature held legal rights, Earth.org reported.


Karla Sofía Gascón just became the first out trans actor to score an Oscar nomination

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made history by announcing that Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón has been nominated for an Oscar for her lead performance in Emilia Pérez. Gascón, who starred in the Spanish language musical as a Mexican drug lord who begins a new life after coming out as trans, is the first openly transgender performer ever to receive an acting nomination in the Academy’s 95-year history.


China develops new iron making method that boosts productivity by 3,600 times

The flash iron making method, as detailed by Professor Zhang Wenhai and his team in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nonferrous Metals last month, can complete the iron making process in just three to six seconds, compared to the five to six hours required by traditional blast furnaces. According to Zhang and his colleagues, the new technology could improve energy use efficiency in China’s steel industry by over one-third. Additionally, by eliminating the need for coal entirely, it would help the steel industry achieve the goal of near-zero carbon dioxide emissions.


The Belgian Congo establishes Albert National Park, Africa’s first national park (1925 C.E.)

Now known as Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the park was established to protect forest habitats for local gorilla populations. In 1979, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Situated in a region deeply impacted by the effects of war and armed conflict for over 20 years, Virunga is now protected by a dedicated team of 689 rangers. These rangers go through intensive training, risking their lives on a daily basis to safeguard the Park’s exceptional wildlife.


More than 100 countries achieve monumental “30 by 30” conservation goal (2030 C.E. ???)

30 by 30 is a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30% of Earth’s land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030. The target was proposed by a 2019 article in Science Advances, “A Global Deal for Nature: Guiding principles, milestones, and targets”, highlighting the need for expanded nature conservation efforts to mitigate climate change. By 2022, more than 100 countries had agreed to the initiative. By 2030, more than 100 countries had fulfilled their pledge to legally protect their most precious ecosystems.

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


Urge your members of Congress to keep families and communities together

From American Friends Service Committee: Research shows that 74% of people in the U.S. support taking immediate steps to make our immigration system more welcoming and dignified, according to a 2024 YouGov poll conducted last year on behalf of AFSC. But the administration’s plan for expanding deportation and detention across the U.S. violates human and civil rights and puts families and beloved community members at risk of separation. Send a message to Congress.


This week’s calendar


Weekly reflection

Hi beautiful people,

The moment many of us have been dreading is here. This week in the United States, we’ve already begun seeing policies and orders that endanger and demean so many of us streaming in. These are concerted efforts to erase so many people I love.

So I want to take this opportunity to tell those of you most affected by these actions – people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, and so many others – that I love you and see you. I am here and will not go quiet like so many others have others have. I get that these words may feel hollow. Perhaps they don’t really mean much to you without concerted action behind them. Maybe they seem like just virtue signaling. I get that.

My pledge to you is that I will show up for you beyond just a few words at the end of a newsletter. I intend to do what I can to keep you safe, seen, and heard and to honor and acknowledge your full humanity. And if you ever see or sense that I’m falling short of this, as I’m sure I will at times, I invite you to call me out on it.

As always, if there are opportunities to spread the word on actions we can take to support you and your communities, please let me know and I will do my best to include them in this newsletter.

Love,
Peter


Purpose Coach
Bellingham WA, USA / Lummi & Nooksack lands

Purpose statement: I reveal a world of beauty and goodness

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