Thursday's Positive News

Editor OGN Daily
Jul 28, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Aug 12, 2022

Global round up of positive news nuggets to put a spring in your step.

Landmark Ruling

A landmark ruling in Kenya will see the Indigenous Ogiek people paid reparations for decades of illegal evictions from their ancestral land in the Mau Forest. It’s the first time a court has ruled in favour of both material and moral damages and the decision could set a precedent for other Indigenous peoples in East Africa. The court also said that Kenya must make efforts to give the Ogiek titles to their forest land and officially recognize them as Indigenous peoples, a protected status the Kenyan government has resisted. “This is really a big milestone, a landmark ruling,” said Daniel Kobei, Executive Director of the Ogiek Peoples Development Program. “We are all elated and very happy.”

Carbon Negative

Finland is now the first country in the world to pass a legally binding carbon negativity law. The country will be legally bound to reaching net-zero emissions by 2035 and be carbon negative by 2040.

Insulin Injection

California - the fifth largest economy on the planet - just announced it's going to manufacture its own insulin, reports CNN. This will make it significantly more affordable for millions of residents of the state, and push down prices nationwide. More than eight million Americans with diabetes depend on the drug.

Conservation Success

When American naturalist Dian Fossey moved to Rwanda half a century ago to study mountain gorillas, their numbers were dwindling, down to just 254 individuals, but today they're up to over 600, with another 400 in neighboring Uganda - the only great ape whose numbers are actually on the rise. How they've done it? A joint effort by scientists and government to save gorillas and help the human communities around them, with a key financial role played by tourists.

Thalassophile

Noun: lover of the sea. A Thalassophile is someone who loves to spend their summers at the beach.

Building in Amsterdam that is designed for humans and non-human species — Credit: Team AM-VenhoevenCS-DSL

People and Wildlife

A new housing development in Amsterdam will not only provide housing for humans, it will also address a housing shortage for non-human species. "We're aiming for a few species of animals that are now disappearing from the city, like sparrows or bats of some types of butterflies and tried to recreate their perfect habitat within this building," said Jos-Willem van Oorschot, architect. The site, on an island in a river near the city center, is being transformed into a car-free neighborhood. The new building uses a unique model that requires decision-making boards that include a voice representing nonhuman interests; as the architects worked on the design, a "speaker for life" advocated for nature as each decision was made. The ground floor of the building will house several organizations focused on nature. "They will use the building as a prototype that they will monitor over the next years to see if there is anything that we can improve on the design," said Oorschot.

Successful Trial

Doctors in the UK say we could see a cure for haemophilia B happen with the next few years, after a successful trial of a 'transformational' therapy consisting of an engineered virus that corrects the genetic defect that leaves people's blood struggling to clot. 9 out of 10 patients who took part in the trial no longer needed clotting injections, says the BBC.

Coal Exit

The Romanian government has published an emergency law to phase out coal by 2030, which is expected to be approved within a month. It accelerates the country’s original coal exit by two years, and clears the way for the country to exploit its enormous solar and wind energy potential.

Quote of the Day

“Nature has given us all the pieces required to achieve exceptional wellness and health, but has left it to us to put these pieces together.” Diane McLaren

On this Day

28 July 1868: The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - which granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the Civil War - entered into force.