All The Top Good News Stories From Last Week
- Editor OGN Daily
- Sep 28
- 4 min read
A quick summary of all the top good news from around the world.
Health & Wellbeing
Ultra-Processed Ban: In a first for the US, California has passed a bill that will legally define and then ban ultra-processed foods from school dinners. “In California, Democrats and Republicans are joining forces to prioritise the health and safety of our children.”
Scandi Phone Bans: Sweden and Denmark are banning mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs for children under 13. Recent research in the Netherlands, where phones for school children are already banned, has found improvements to the learning environment. The vast majority of secondary schools surveyed said that children found it easier to concentrate and almost one third said results had improved.
Medical Breakthrough: One of the cruellest and most devastating diseases - Huntington's - has been successfully treated for the first time. University College London Huntington's Disease Centre described the results as "spectacular". This is a moment of real hope in a disease that hits people in their prime and devastates families. "We never in our wildest dreams would have expected a 75 percent slowing of clinical progression."
Universal Blood Type: A biotech startup is developing technology it says could revolutionize the global blood supply by producing universal red blood cells from stem cells on an industrial scale. The aim is to provide a reliable and cost-effective supply of blood to hospitals worldwide, bypassing both the limits and availability of human donations.
Lenacapavir: Cheap supplies of a groundbreaking twice-yearly HIV prevention jab will be available in many poorer countries within two years, funders have promised. Lenacapavir will cost $40 a patient a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries from 2027, under two agreements with generic drug manufacturers announced this week.
Global School Meals: National school meal programmes now serve 466 million children worldwide, up by a remarkable 80 million since 2020. And almost all the funding is now coming from national budgets.
Wildlife & Conservation
Global Oceans Treaty: The High Seas Treaty received its 60th ratification, meaning that it will become international law from January. By any measure, this is very good news, hailed as a "monumental achievement" and evidence that countries can work together for environmental protection.
Back From The Brink: The population of China’s golden snub-nosed monkeys has rebounded. Numbers fell below 500 in the 1980s as forests were felled and monkeys killed for fur, but decades of protection have lifted the population to over 1,600.
First 'Living' Roofs on US Bus Stops: It’s a remarkably simple idea. Use the roof of a no-frills bus stop to offset the heat-island effect in urban areas devoid of trees, provide direct shade at bus shelters, help reduce flooding, improve biodiversity of native pollinators, and see something rather more joyful on the daily commute.
Conservation Philanthropy: Arizona State University received its largest-ever grant to launch a new school dedicated to preparing the next generation of conservation leaders - thanks to Rob Walton, a philanthropist, conservationist, and the former chairman of Walmart, making a $115 million investment. The school will be “laser-focused” on conservation, because “protecting the planet’s future is protecting our future.”
Appalachian Foothills: In one of the largest private land protection initiatives in state history, nearly 3,000 acres of forest in the foothills of Appalachian Ohio, and the wildlife that call it home, will be protected and open to the public. The Nature Conservancy will ensure that the Joy Valley Nature Preserve is protected long-term.
Great Koala National Park: Australia's New South Wales state government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create a total 467,000 hectares (1,800 square miles) and protect more than 12,000 koalas. It is "one of the most significant conservation achievements in decades, made possible through the persistence of communities and advocacy groups who refused to give up.”
Renewables & Climate
Astute Observation: A 13-year-old student from New York has discovered that copying nature’s design could lead to significant improvements in solar panel winter efficiency - by up to 50 percent.
Youth Climate Leaders: Youth-led projects tackling air pollution in Mongolia, improving river protection in Mexico, and saving a marine species in the Philippines have won a global award for their work - and money to help them scale. The Iris Prize funds young environmentalists catalysing climate action in their communities - hoping to overcome the circumstantial barriers that too often prevent young people from being able to advocate for nature-related change.
California’s First Solar Canal: The concept is both simple and efficient - install solar panels over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they can significantly reduce evaporation and make clean electricity. And, of course, don't take up any precious land that could be used for agriculture.
Going Down Under: The Australian government has vowed to cut its emissions by 62 to 70 percent by 2035. The country’s emissions have already gone down by about 27 percent from the baseline year of 2005, and the government previously projected emissions to fall by 51 percent by 2035.
Clean Energy Investment: Spending on renewable energy has continued to increase around the world. In the first half of 2025, investment globally in renewable technologies grew by about 10 percent on the same period last year. Investment in clean energy around the world this year is likely to hit about $2.2 trillion.
And Finally...
A remarkable analysis by BBC Future shows that Earth has entered the age of rewilding. The world has already passed peak farmland: cropland and pasture have been contracting since the 2000s, outpacing deforestation losses. In Europe, North America, Australia and Central Asia, abandoned pastures are reverting to grasslands and forests. Productivity gains have spared 7 million square miles (18 million sq. km) from cultivation, while synthetic fibres, sweeteners and flavourings have freed another 425,000 square miles (1.1 million km). To put that last figure into perspective, it's more than twice the area of Spain or California. Furthermore, shifting diets are sparing land too: Europe’s move from beef and lamb, to poultry and pork, has saved 77,200 square miles (200,000 sq. km). If you tot up all the square miles listed above it is larger than any single country, including Russia (the world's largest at approximately 6.6 million square miles). If these trends continue, the 21st century will mark the first time humanity leaves more nature behind than it inherited.
