This archive covers progress stories and milestones from across Europe, spanning health, climate policy, social equity, and scientific research. From small-nation experiments to E.U.-wide initiatives, these reports highlight what is working and why.
The announcement was made by the country’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, who said Germany will start the restitution of a “substantial” part of the artifacts held in its museums to Nigeria, starting next year.
This week, the world’s biggest jeweler Pandora announced it will cease to sell all mined diamonds, and switch exclusively to selling lab-made diamonds, as the BBC reports.
The U.K. has established an important international precedent, being the first major economy to account for its airline and shipping emissions under its carbon budget.
The country depends on coal for around 70% of its energy needs, although it is planning to reduce this to 11% by 2040.
During the international Climate Summit, three governments and nine giant corporations announced a groundbreaking coalition, called LEAF, which is mobilizing to raise at least $1 billion this year, alone, for large-scale forest protection and sustainable development.
Scientists from the University of Oxford have developed a vaccine that they say gives “unprecedented” protection against malaria, a deadly mosquito-borne disease that killed more than 400,000 people worldwide last year.
The Republic of Ireland is set to say goodbye to coal, after the state-owned Electricity Supply Board announced it would transform its last remaining coal generation, the 915MW Moneypoint facility, into a green energy hub, including a 1.4GW floating offshore wind farm.
The U.K. government has announced a legally binding commitment to hit a 78 percent emissions reduction target by 2035, as compared to 1990 levels, on the way to net zero emissions by 2050. For the first time, this target includes aviation and shipping. The U.K.’s carbon emissions peaked at around 900 megatons per year in 1991, and the 2022 figure is on pace to be below 500 Mt, representing around a 45% emissions reduction achievement since 2002.
City councils must give four years’ notice before imposing bans as part of government plans for emission-free road traffic by 2050. The city bans aim to save 1 megaton of CO2 each year by 2030.
After a long debate, the French National Assembly has voted to suspend all domestic flights on routes that can be traveled by direct train in less than 2.5 hours.
