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.

Aerial view of container ship

Decarbonization containers turn 78% of marine emissions into limestone in new pilot

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A remarkable pilot project installed on a 787-ft. container ship has proven it’s possible to capture emissions from the smokestacks of cargo ships with 78% efficiency and convert the CO2 into limestone pebbles, which can be offloaded and sold. London startup Seabound, funded by a US$1.5-million grant from the UK Government, partnered up with global shipping company Lomar to install the carbon capture equipment on one of its older and dirtier-burning ships, a medium-sized vessel capable of carrying more than 3,200 shipping containers.

A heat pump unit on a home exterior, representing U.S. heat pump sales growth supported by the Kigali Amendment, for article on heat pump agreement

Nine U.S. states, including California and New York, sign heat pump agreement to clean up air pollution

By / / Good News For Humankind

Heat pump adoption just got a major coordinated push, as nine states spanning roughly a third of the U.S. population aligned around shared targets to electrify residential heating at scale. Fossil-fueled heating equipment across these states releases more than 138,000 tons of nitrogen oxide annually — exceeding power plant emissions — with at least 40 percent of new investments directed toward low-income households. Because the agreement isn’t legally binding, each state must build its own policies to deliver. When large states move together, manufacturers and investors take notice — a market signal that can reshape supply chains before mandates arrive.

Wind turbines amid clouds, for article on E.U. wind power, for article on renewable electricity generation

Wind power overtakes natural gas in the E.U. for first time ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

Wind energy outproduced natural gas across the European Union for the first time ever in 2023, according to an analysis from the energy think tank Ember. Renewables together supplied nearly half of Europe’s electricity that year, while coal generation fell by 26 percent — the steepest single-year drop the continent’s power sector has ever recorded. Analyst Sarah Brown called it a “monumental shift,” noting that wind and solar are now becoming the backbone of the grid rather than an add-on. What makes this especially hopeful is that it happened during an energy crisis, when many expected Europe to retreat to coal. Instead, the continent leaned harder into clean power — and showed the rest of the world what’s possible.

Mangrove forest, for article on Pakistan mangrove restoration

Pakistan has expanded mangroves nearly threefold between 1986 and 2020

By / / Good News For Humankind

Pakistan’s mangrove forests have nearly tripled since 1986, growing from about 48,000 hectares to 144,000 hectares — a striking reversal of the global pattern of mangrove loss. Most of that expansion sits in the Indus Delta, where roughly 100,000 people depend on healthy mangroves for fishing livelihoods. The recovery has been driven by an unusual mix: provincial forest departments, international scientific partnerships, carbon credit financing, and fishing villages whose residents work as nursery hands and patrol against illegal cutting. In one coastal town, a single nursery holds 50,000 saplings ready for planting. As coastlines worldwide face rising seas and intensifying storms, Pakistan’s quietly persistent restoration offers a real-world template for what sustained, community-rooted conservation can achieve.

Meskel Square traffic in Addis Ababa, for article on fossil fuel vehicle ban

Ethiopia becomes first country to ban combustion-powered vehicles

By / / Good News For Humankind

Ethiopia just became the first country anywhere to ban the import of gasoline and diesel cars, with the policy announced in late January 2025. What makes this remarkable is the foundation underneath it: every kilowatt powering an Ethiopian EV comes from renewable sources, mostly hydropower, so these vehicles are genuinely zero-emission from the moment they plug in. The shift is also deeply practical — Ethiopia has been spending around $6 billion a year on oil imports, with most of that fueling vehicles, money that can now flow into homegrown clean transport instead. Wealthier nations have led on EV adoption, but none have drawn this line. Ethiopia just showed the rest of the world a bolder version of what’s possible.

Woman putting organic waste in the compost bin

France implements compulsory composting

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As of January 2024, municipalities in France must now provide residents with ways to sort bio-waste, which includes food scraps, vegetable peels, expired food and garden waste. Households and businesses are required to dispose of organic matter either in a dedicated small bin for home collection or at a municipal collection point. The waste will then be turned into biogas or compost to replace chemical fertilizers.

Traffic in a Chinese city, for article on China EV market share

25% of new car sales in China were fully electric in 2023 for the first time ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

China’s EV transition crossed a remarkable threshold in 2023, with one in four new cars sold being fully battery-electric — and plug-in vehicles of all types capturing 37% of the market. That’s a stunning leap from just three years earlier, when plug-ins held only 6.3% of sales. Affordable pricing from Chinese automakers like BYD, plus the rise of range-extended models that ease driver anxiety, are fueling the shift. Analysts note that once EV adoption passes roughly a quarter of a market, momentum tends to build on itself as charging networks grow and electric becomes the default choice. It’s a hopeful signal that the world’s biggest car market may be tipping toward clean transportation faster than anyone expected.

Back of a school bus, for article on electric school buses

Miami commits to putting 100 electric school buses on the road

By / / Good News For Humankind

Electric school buses are about to transform the daily commute for Miami-Dade students, with the district rolling out 100 of them thanks to a $19.1 million EPA grant, a Volkswagen award, and the school system’s own early investment. That makes it one of the largest electric school bus fleets in the country. The shift means cleaner air for kids waiting at the curb and quieter rides for the drivers behind the wheel, with no tailpipe emissions along the route. Miami-Dade’s blended funding approach — district dollars, federal support, and a corporate settlement — offers a model other communities can follow as the movement to electrify America’s roughly 480,000 school buses gathers speed.

Landfill. A lot of plastic garbage. Environmental problems., for article on plastic waste ban, for article on plastic bag bans

Plastic bag bans in the U.S. have already prevented billions of bags from being used

By / / Good News For Humankind

Plastic bag bans are quietly working — researchers estimate they eliminate nearly 300 single-use bags per person each year in places that adopt them. A new report from three nonprofits looked at policies in New Jersey, Vermont, Philadelphia, Portland, and Santa Barbara, and found New Jersey’s statewide ban alone keeps more than 5.5 billion bags out of circulation every year. More than 500 U.S. cities and 12 states have now passed similar restrictions, with Georgia and Massachusetts possibly next. People adjust faster than skeptics expect, bringing their own bags or simply going without. It’s a small daily habit shift that, multiplied across millions of shoppers, shows how thoughtful policy can ripple outward into cleaner waterways and healthier communities.

Solar panels installed on rooftops in an African village for an article about Africa solar imports, for article on gigawatt-scale solar farm

Rio Tinto signs contract for Australian grid’s first gigawatt scale solar project

By / / Good News For Humankind

Rio Tinto has signed on to buy all the power from a 1.1 gigawatt solar farm in Queensland — the largest solar project ever contracted on Australia’s main grid. The electricity will flow to Rio Tinto’s alumina refinery, aluminum smelter, and boron plant near Gladstone, some of the most power-hungry industrial sites in the country. Built by Danish developer European Energy, the Upper Calliope farm will deliver clean energy at the scale of a large coal plant when the sun is shining. Heavy industry has long been one of the trickiest pieces of the climate puzzle, so a commitment this big from a global mining giant is a real signal that even the most energy-intensive sectors can start to run on sunshine.