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.
More than one million people in the U.K. have given up smoking since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study by the nonprofit Action on Smoking and Health. Almost half (41%) said it was a direct response to heightened health concerns due to COVID-19.
The solar panels will provide reliable green energy across the sunny Mediterranean country. In addition to environmental benefits, it will also generate between 3,000 and 8,000 new jobs per year. In Croatia, 19,310 people claimed unemployment between January and April of this year.
Use of plastic carrier bags in England has continued to fall – by 59% in the last year alone – since the introduction of the 5p charge. Sales of single-use plastic bags have dropped by 95% in England’s supermarkets since the charge was introduced in October 2015.
French company Valneva has developed a vaccine that works by stopping Lyme-causing bacteria in ticks from passing into people’s bloodstreams when the ticks bite.
More than 18 hectares in size, the solar power plant, Zonnepark Bomhofsplas, has 72,000 solar panels and is expected to provide energy for 7,200 homes. It was built in just 7 weeks.
A new blood test for prostate cancer is producing a 99% accuracy rating—precision that has never before been achieved for a blood test of this particular kind of cancer. The test can also determine the exact stage and progression of the cancer, reducing the need for invasive biopsies and scans.
The bank, a multinational investment company headquartered in Germany, announced Monday that it will no longer offer financial services to new projects that involve drilling for oil or gas in the Arctic.
The U.K.’s biggest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme with nine million members, is to begin divesting from fossil fuels in what climate campaigners have hailed as a landmark move for the industry.
Eligible individuals from Hong Kong currently can come to the U.K. for six months without a visa. With the rule change, they will have the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they will be allowed to apply for settled status and then again for citizenship.
Fossil fuels fell by 18 percent, squeezed both by rising renewable generation and a seven-percent fall in electricity demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
