Climate crisis

The climate crisis demands action — and action is happening. This archive tracks real progress: policy wins, clean-energy milestones, community resilience, and scientific advances that show meaningful change is possible. Stories here come from every corner of the world.

Solar panels, for article on China solar capacity

China’s solar capacity overtakes coal as its largest power source ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

Coal has been the backbone of China’s electricity grid for decades. This summer, the East Asian nation crossed a pivotal threshold.

China’s installed solar capacity now stands at 1,286 gigawatts against coal’s 1,285 — a margin of just one gigawatt, according to the National Energy Administration. Solar supplies roughly an eighth of the country’s electricity today; coal still generates most of it. But capacity is what gets built first, and the builders have already chosen: solar and wind made up more than 80% of all new power capacity China added last year.

The generation numbers are starting to follow. Coal-fired output fell nearly 2% in 2025 — the first drop in six years, and possibly the first time on record that coal generation fell while overall demand rose.

image for article on Turkmenistan methane leaks

Turkmenistan seals 8 massive methane leaks in climate “breakthrough”

By / / Good News For Humankind

Methane super-emitters — single leaks that can warm the planet more than a million SUVs combined — have long made Turkmenistan one of the worst fossil fuel offenders on Earth. Eight of those leaks are now sealed, confirmed by satellite, after a UN monitoring system sent alerts that drove real repairs. International scrutiny appears to have been the turning point, pushing the secretive government to act where years of outside pressure had struggled. Yet Turkmenistan still holds three of the six worst leaks detected worldwide, meaning eight fixes, however meaningful, are a beginning, not a solution.

image for article on Wild Coast communities

South Africa’s top court permanently blocks Shell oil off the Wild Coast

By / / Good News For Humankind

South Africa’s highest court has handed Indigenous and rural fishing communities a permanent, binding victory — one that sets a new legal standard for who gets a say before oil companies drill near vulnerable coastlines. The Constitutional Court ruled that Shell and Impact Africa never meaningfully consulted the Mpondo and other communities whose livelihoods and spiritual lives are tied to the Wild Coast, also citing international climate obligations. Whether South Africa will reform its consultation process — or force the next community into the same grueling legal fight — remains an open question.

Forest with sun shining through, for article on land-use emissions

Global land-use emissions have fallen 30% this century

By / / Good News For Humankind

Net land-use emissions averaged roughly 5 billion metric tons a year over 2015–24, with 2025 about a third below the 2000s average — driven by slowing deforestation and by regrowing forests pulling carbon back out of the air. Brazil’s forest protection policies, Indonesia’s peatland rewetting, and China’s reforestation programs reshaped the picture. The uncertainty is large, more than half that figure. And the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains hard to reach, since its clearing is subsistence farming rather than export crops. Where deforestation is commercial, policy can stop it. Where it isn’t, that is much less clear.

Batteries, for article on lithium-ion battery costs

Battery costs have declined by 99% worldwide over three decades

By / / Good News For Humankind

Battery storage — once the missing link in the clean energy transition — is finally arriving at scale, and the numbers behind it are hard to overstate. A learning curve built from millions of small improvements in chemistry and manufacturing has made what once seemed impossible feel routine. What was an extraordinary expense in 1991 now costs a fraction of that, pulling electric vehicles, home storage, and grid-scale power into reach for far more people. Supply chain pressures and raw material constraints mean progress isn’t guaranteed — but the direction, so far, is undeniable.

Bus, for article on Latin American electric buses

Latin American cities cross milestone of 10,000 electric buses

By / / Good News For Humankind

Latin American cities are proving that large-scale clean transit is genuinely achievable, with 10,000 electric buses now running across 80 cities in 13 countries — collectively avoiding an estimated 10 million tonnes of CO2 every year. Santiago, São Paulo, and Bogotá are carrying most of that weight, enabled by a financing model that blends regulatory pressure with structured funding. The electric fleet remains a small fraction of regional totals, and smaller cities still face real barriers around grid reliability and maintenance. Still, what’s emerging here is a transferable blueprint, not just a local win.

Solar panels and wind turbines generating clean electricity for an article about renewable energy capacity, for article on 3-terawatt solar milestone

Humanity quietly crosses massive 3-terawatt solar power milestone

By / / Good News For Humankind

Solar power’s three-terawatt milestone tells a story of acceleration that’s hard to fully absorb — the third terawatt arrived in under two years, faster than any previous phase of the boom. Countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, and the Philippines are now seeing real solar growth, and the number of nations with at least one gigawatt installed nearly doubled between 2020 and 2025. But the technology’s falling costs haven’t been matched by accessible financing in lower-income countries, leaving millions still waiting. Whether this transformation reaches everyone — not just the wealthiest nations — is the question the next decade will answer.

Coal mine, for article on China coal share

China’s coal power falls below 50% of electricity for first time ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

The remarkable part isn’t the coal number — it’s that China burned more coal than ever in the first half of 2026, yet clean power grew so fast that coal’s grid share still slipped to 49.7%. Wind and solar alone now supply nearly a quarter of electricity in the world’s largest power market, with renewables together topping 40%. Beijing is racing to keep up, lifting energy-storage investment 74% in a single year. The harder task still ahead: cutting the absolute amount of coal burned, not just its share.

Solar panels, for article on Africa renewable energy capacity, for article on California solar milestone

California becomes first major economy powered over 50% by solar

By / / Good News For Humankind

For the first five months of 2026, California generated more electricity from the sun than from natural gas — the fuel that dominated its grid for decades. The tipping point came in May, when solar carried clean power across a full month at a scale that dwarfs most national grids. Grid-scale batteries made it possible, storing midday sunshine and releasing it into the evening peak. The shift is real but unfinished — July heat waves pushed gas back up — yet analysts say this could be the first year solar beats gas outright.

Brazilian flag, for article on Brazil renewable energy

Brazil’s power grid hits 84.6% renewable, exceeding its 2030 goal early

By / / Good News For Humankind

Brazil’s renewable energy milestone signals something bigger than a single number: a large, industrializing nation has built one of the cleanest major grids on Earth while still growing fast. A separate report showed wind and solar crossed a new threshold in August 2025, and their seasonal fit is clever — wind peaks precisely when hydro reservoirs run low, reducing storage needs. Yet drought years can push fossil fuel backup from 6% to 26% of monthly generation, a vulnerability that battery storage and transmission investment haven’t yet solved. Brazil’s path shows the world what’s possible — and where the hard work remains.