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.

French flag, for article on fossil fuel phase-out

France launches plan to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050

By / / Good News For Humankind

France just became the first country to set hard deadlines for ditching every fossil fuel: coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and gas by 2050. The roadmap was unveiled at a conference in Santa Marta, Colombia, where roughly 60 nations gathered to share their own transition plans after a global agreement stalled at COP30 last November. What makes France’s plan unusual isn’t a single bold target but the fact that it draws one clear line across all three fuels, covering everything from power plants to home heating to transport. As climate envoy Benoît Faraco noted, almost no other country has named an end date this clearly. In a moment of energy anxiety worldwide, naming the destination is itself a quiet act of leadership.

Man installing solar panels, for article on solar PV growth

Solar’s 2025 growth is the largest ever recorded for any energy source

By / / Good News For Humankind

Solar power just had its biggest year ever, adding 600 terawatt-hours to the global energy supply in 2025 — more than a quarter of all energy growth worldwide and the largest single-year jump any electricity technology has ever recorded. Battery storage quietly hit its own milestone too, with 110 gigawatts added in a single year, outpacing the best year natural gas has ever had. Meanwhile, electric vehicle sales topped 20 million, already nudging down global road fuel demand. Together, renewables and nuclear met nearly 60% of new energy demand. The takeaway is hopeful but honest: clean energy is finally outpacing fossil fuels in the places that matter most, even as the work of decarbonizing shipping, aviation, and heavy industry still lies ahead.

Sunset by smokestacks, for article on fossil fuel phaseout

More than 50 nations attend world-first conference on phasing out fossil fuels

By / / Good News For Humankind

Fossil fuel phaseout talks just crossed a real threshold: for the first time, more than 50 nations sat down together specifically to plan a way off coal, oil, and gas. The two-day gathering in Santa Marta, Colombia, brought together an unusually wide mix — major producers like Australia, Norway, and Canada alongside Pacific island nations like Tuvalu and Vanuatu, with Europe and emerging economies in between. No binding deals were expected, but the recommendations will feed into a voluntary roadmap being shaped under Brazil’s COP30 leadership. It’s a small, hopeful shift: producers and consumers finally talking openly about a transition that, until recently, was almost taboo to name out loud.

Rows of solar panels in a Chinese desert reflecting China wind and solar capacity growth under the Five-Year Plan clean energy targets

China plans to double its already massive clean energy supply by 2035

By / / Good News For Humankind

China’s new climate pledge to the United Nations sets a target of 3,600 gigawatts of wind and solar power by 2035 — more than the entire electricity-generating capacity of the United States today, and roughly double what China has already built. The commitment is woven into the country’s next Five-Year Plan, which directs state banks, provinces, and manufacturers to move in the same direction. Because China makes about 80% of the world’s solar panels, every factory it scales up makes clean energy cheaper for buyers in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and everywhere else. That ripple effect is what makes this pledge matter far beyond one country’s borders — it lowers the cost of a livable future for all of us.

Solar panels and wind turbines generating clean electricity for an article about renewable energy capacity

Renewables hit 49% of global power capacity for the first time

By / / Good News For Humankind

Renewable energy capacity crossed a landmark threshold in 2025, with global installed power surpassing 5,100 gigawatts and representing 49% of all capacity worldwide for the first time in history. The International Renewable Energy Agency reported a single-year addition of 692 gigawatts, led overwhelmingly by solar power, which alone accounted for 75% of new renewable installations. Clean energy now represents 85.6% of all new power capacity added globally, signaling that the transition has moved from aspiration to economic reality. The milestone carries implications beyond climate — nations with strong renewable bases demonstrated measurably greater energy security amid ongoing geopolitical instability.

A row of electric buses at a charging depot for an article about electric buses India

Telangana orders 915 electric buses in a major clean transit push

By / / Good News For Humankind

Electric buses in India took a major step forward as Telangana ordered 915 zero-emission vehicles, one of the largest single clean transit procurements in the country’s history. The purchase will serve routes across Hyderabad and other urban centers, reducing air pollution for millions of residents who depend on public buses and have the least ability to escape street-level exhaust. The order builds on India’s PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, which targets 10,000 electric buses nationwide, and adds real momentum to a transition that analysts say is becoming increasingly economically compelling. As India’s renewable energy grid expands, the emissions benefit of each electric bus will only grow over time.

Rooftop solar panels on a row of newly built houses for an article about solar panels on new buildings

Wales becomes first part of the U.K. to mandate solar panels on new buildings

By / / Good News For Humankind

Solar panels on new buildings became mandatory in Wales in 2022, making it the first part of the United Kingdom to embed renewable energy directly into its construction code. The rules apply to most new homes, commercial buildings, and major extensions, with the Welsh Government estimating the change will cut carbon emissions from new buildings by roughly 75 percent. Because retrofitting existing buildings costs far more than building right the first time, the policy addresses one of the highest-leverage points in climate action. Wales joins California and France among a small group of governments willing to make clean energy generation a baseline expectation rather than an optional incentive.

Aerial view of a cargo ship transiting a narrow strait for an article about Djibouti sovereign carbon tax — 13 words

Djibouti pioneers sovereign carbon tax to unlock millions for local climate resilience

By / / Good News For Humankind

Djibouti’s sovereign carbon tax on shipping emissions marks a historic first, making the small Horn of Africa nation an unlikely pioneer in climate finance. Djibouti has independently levied a carbon charge on vessels transiting its waters near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, directing revenue toward local climate resilience programs. The move bypasses slow international maritime negotiations and addresses a long-standing failure of global climate finance: money rarely reaches the communities most harmed. For one of Africa’s most climate-vulnerable nations, this bold assertion of sovereign authority could become a model for coastal states worldwide.

Piles of discarded clothing in a textile recycling facility for an article about the EU textile waste ban

The E.U. now bans fashion brands from destroying unsold clothes

By / / Good News For Humankind

The EU textile waste ban marks a turning point for the global fashion industry. Large fashion companies operating in European markets are now prohibited from incinerating or landfilling unsold clothing and accessories under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The rule targets a long-standing industry practice of destroying excess inventory to protect brand value — most notoriously exposed when Burberry burned £28 million worth of goods in 2018. Brands must now pursue repair, resale, or donation instead. With 450 million consumers at stake, the regulation gives the EU real leverage to reshape how the fashion industry manages overproduction globally.

A row of electric vehicles charging at public stations for an article about electric car sales in the E.U.

Electric car sales surpass petrol vehicles across the E.U. for the first time

By / / Good News For Humankind

Electric car sales reached a historic milestone in December 2025, surpassing petrol vehicles for the first time across the European Union. Battery-electric vehicles claimed 22.6 percent of new car registrations, narrowly edging out petrol at 22.5 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The shift reflects years of falling EV prices, improved battery range, and rapid expansion of public charging infrastructure. Hybrids led all categories at 44 percent, signaling a broad move away from fossil fuels even among cautious buyers. The milestone arrived ahead of schedule and strengthens confidence in Europe’s 2050 climate neutrality goal.