Taiwan legalizes same-sex marriage in historic first for Asia
Lawmakers in Taiwan have approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making it the first place in Asia to pass gay marriage legislation.
East Asia
China reassigns 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in bid to fight pollution
China has reassigned over 60,000 soldiers to plant at least 32,400 square miles of trees by the end of the year, which is roughly equivalent to the size of Ireland.
China’s electric vehicle sales grow 118% year on year and fossil sales fall 13% in Q1 2019
The China passenger car association’s first quarter figures are in, and electric vehicle sales continue their rapid rise, up 118% year on year, to over 254,000.
China to ban all variants of deadly drug
China announced it will ban all variants of a powerful opioid responsible for many of the deaths in America’s opioid crisis.
Honda to electrify 100% of its European sales by 2025
Honda revealed their ambition to make 100% of its European sales electrified by 2025. This has built on the vehicle manufacturer’s previous goal of two thirds electrified by 2025.
Asia Pacific region installed 25 GW of onshore wind in 2018
The Asia Pacific region installed a total of 24.9 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind in 2018, bringing the region’s cumulative capacity up to an impressive 256 GW. 145 GW of new onshore capacity are expected to be brought online by 2023.
Beijing will implement Stage 6 emissions rules in 2019 – reducing CO2 and NO2 emissions by 50%
Currently, Stage V rules, based primarily on regulations promulgated by the European Union, are in force. Stage VI rules will slash carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% below those already strict Stage V level.
Earth has more tree and leaf coverage now than in 2000, thanks to China and India
According to U.S. NASA, there are now more than 2 million sq miles of extra leaf area per year, compared with the early 2000s — a 5% increase. The greening effect stems mainly from ambitious tree-planting and intensive farming in China and India.
Japanese city of Otsu is using AI to prevent youth suicides
The hope is that the AI will allow school officials to identify the bullying cases that are likely to escalate in seriousness so that they can intervene and diffuse the situation before it’s too late.
Plug-in electric car sales skyrocket in China
2018 PEV sales in China ended at over a million units. For some context, 2017 was the first year that plug-ins reached 1 million sales globally.