Europe

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.

Wind turbines and solar panels generating power across a European landscape for an article about European renewable energy

Wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in Europe for the first time

By / / Good News For Humankind

European renewable energy from wind and solar surpassed coal and gas combined for the first time in history, supplying 30% of the continent’s electricity in 2024. That share had been less than 14% just a decade earlier, making the speed of this shift remarkable. Solar alone generated more electricity than coal across Europe for the first time ever. Carbon emissions from European power generation fell to their lowest level in decades. While challenges around energy affordability and grid infrastructure remain, the milestone marks a genuine turning point in how an entire continent powers itself.

Offshore wind turbines at sea at dusk for an article about U.K. offshore wind auction results

U.K. offshore wind auction locks in a record 8.4GW of new clean power

By / / Good News For Humankind

The UK’s biggest clean energy auction ever has awarded contracts for 8.4 gigawatts of new renewable capacity, enough to power roughly 12 million homes. The result marks a dramatic turnaround after the 2023 auction attracted zero offshore wind bids when strike price caps failed to reflect real construction costs. After adjusting those caps, developers returned in force across offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar projects. The outcome significantly advances Britain’s goal of fully decarbonizing its electricity grid by 2030, while also signaling to European markets that stalled clean energy programs can be successfully recalibrated.

Aerial view of the Faroe Islands coastline for an article about Faroe Islands abortion rights

Faroe Islands legalizes abortion in a landmark vote for women’s rights

By / / Good News For Humankind

Faroe Islands abortion rights became legal for the first time in 2024, when the Løgting voted to end one of Western Europe’s last near-total bans on the procedure. For decades, residents seeking abortions were forced to travel to Denmark at significant personal expense, a burden that fell hardest on those with the least financial means. The landmark vote means people on the remote North Atlantic archipelago can now access abortion services locally, closing a longstanding gap in healthcare equity. The Faroe Islands joins the rest of Northern Europe in formally enshrining reproductive rights in law.

A laying hen outdoors on a farm for an article about England animal welfare reform — 13 words.

England outlaws enriched cages for hens and farrowing crates for pigs

By / / Good News For Humankind

England animal welfare reform marks a historic shift as the government commits to phasing out enriched cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs, two of the most criticized practices in modern farming. Millions of hens currently live in cages that prevent natural behaviors like perching and foraging, while sows in farrowing crates cannot turn around during and after birth. Decades of campaigning by groups like the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming, backed by veterinary science, helped build the case for change. The reform reflects a broader shift in public expectations around how farmed animals are treated.

Empty wire cages inside an industrial animal farm for an article about Poland's fur farming ban — 13 words

Poland becomes the 24th European country to ban fur farming

By / / Good News For Humankind

Poland’s fur farming ban marks a landmark moment in European animal welfare progress, as the country joins 23 other nations in prohibiting the practice. Once among the continent’s largest fur producers, Poland had long resisted reform while neighboring countries phased out their industries one by one. The legislation ends decades of large-scale industrial farming of mink, foxes, and raccoon dogs under conditions widely documented as causing significant animal suffering. Poland’s size and former industry dominance make this one of the most consequential fur farming bans in European history.

Offshore oil platform at sunset in the North Sea for an article about the UK oil and gas ban

Britain becomes the first major economy to ban new oil and gas licenses

By / / Good News For Humankind

The UK oil and gas ban makes Britain the first major economy to end all new fossil fuel exploration licensing, a milestone the Labour government under Keir Starmer delivered as a direct campaign promise. Existing North Sea fields will continue operating, but no new exploration licenses will be issued, foreclosing extraction that could have stretched decades into the future. The move aligns British policy with the International Energy Agency’s finding that new fossil fuel development is incompatible with 1.5-degree climate targets. Paired with an £8.3 billion public clean energy company, the decision sets a precedent other major producers are now watching closely.

A researcher working with cells in a laboratory for an article about base-edited T-cells leukemia treatment

Base-edited T-cells clear incurable leukemia in landmark U.K. trial

By / / Good News For Humankind

Base-edited T-cells have pushed an otherwise incurable blood cancer into remission for the first time in medical history, marking a landmark moment in cancer treatment. Scientists at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London developed BE-CAR7, a therapy using donor T-cells precisely engineered through base editing to target T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia without attacking healthy tissue. The treatment achieved remission in the majority of trial participants who had already exhausted every conventional option. Unlike standard CAR-T therapies, BE-CAR7 can be batch-manufactured and deployed within days, making cutting-edge immunotherapy faster, potentially cheaper, and more widely accessible.

A traditional Inuit kayak displayed in a museum for an article about Indigenous artifact repatriation

Vatican returns 62 Indigenous artifacts to Canada a century after they were taken

By / / Good News For Humankind

Indigenous artifact repatriation took a landmark step forward as Pope Leo XIV handed 62 cultural belongings to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, a century after missionaries sent the items to Rome for a 1925 Vatican exhibition. The collection includes an Inuit kayak used for whale hunting and embroidered Cree gloves — objects carrying deep cultural and ceremonial meaning for their communities. This represents the Vatican’s most concrete act of restitution since Pope Francis apologized for the Church’s role in residential schools in 2022. The items will return to Canada on December 6 and be distributed to their communities of origin, demonstrating that sustained Indigenous advocacy can move even ancient institutions toward accountability.