OGN Monday

Editor OGN Daily
Mar 31
3 min read

Celebrating the end of the month and the start of a new week with an eclectic bundle of upbeat news stories.

Usha Vance in front of Al Gore's 1992 book Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. — The Daily Beast via @SLOTUS | Instagram

Ooops

In an Instagram video discussing her trip to Greenland, second lady Usha Vance was spotted sitting in front of a shelf that featured a decidedly non-conservative book about climate change. As the Daily Beast notes, the video published to the official "SLOTUS" - that is, second lady of the United States - account contains a hilarious and seemingly accidental easter egg: a copy of former vice president Al Gore's 1992 book Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. First published in 1992, Gore’s book was an early warning about the “grave danger” presented by climate change. Contrast that with the stance of the Trump administration, which has called global warming “a hoax.”

sargassum seaweed on a Caribbean beach — Sargassum seaweed

Burden to Opportunity

In Grenada, the persistent issue of sargassum seaweed, which has long plagued the Caribbean island’s shores, is being reimagined as an opportunity rather than a burden. While the decaying seaweed causes bad smells and disrupts fishing and tourism, innovative solutions are emerging. The Grenadian government, in collaboration with the EU, is exploring ways to turn sargassum into a valuable resource, including clean energy, bioplastics and fertiliser which, in turn, could boost the local economy.

Saving Lives

Gavi says it has prevented over 18.8 million deaths since 2000. How does it know? The Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium projects what a world without vaccines would look like in terms of disease, then compares that to the actual disease burden - the difference reflects vaccine impact. As Gavi only accounts for vaccines it initially helped introduce, the true number of lives saved is likely higher.

Pedestrian area in Paris — More pedestrian areas in Paris

Parisians Say Oui

Cars are set to be banned on hundreds more roads in the French capital after a referendum voted to turn them into green pedestrian zones. Around 220 streets in Paris are already car-free. Now, 500 more will now be closed to cars, which also means the removal of some 10,000 parking spots in the city. The move follows other measures tackling traffic and ‘auto-besity’ in Paris, which include tripling parking fees for SUVs.

Isolated Peoples

First-of-its-kind territory in Colombia will protect Indigenous Peoples in Isolation. The “Territoriality of the Indigenous Peoples in Isolation between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers” will span 4,220 square miles (1,092,850 hectares) of remote Amazonian forests that are home to over 600 Amazonian species, reports the Andes Amazon Fund. The territory includes a strictly-protected intangible zone of 3,588 square miles (929,500 hectares) to guarantee the right of communities to live in isolation.

Good Climate Stats

The 2025 Global Energy Review report from the IEA reveals that:

Renewables accounted for 93 percent of new power capacity and reached 46 percent of global generating capacity last year;
Emissions in advanced economies emissions fell to 50-year lows;
Oil fell below 30 percent of total energy for the first time since the 1970s - an unprecedented shift;
Perhaps most importantly - economic growth has now decoupled from emissions in the three biggest economies in the world - the United States, Europe, and China.

“Never be afraid to let someone know if they brightened the room they just walked into. Or if something they said inspired you to change. … Say it. Always say it.” Donna Ashworth

On This Day

31 March 1889: The 984-foot (300-metre) Eiffel Tower, a wrought iron technological masterpiece created by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution, was officially inaugurated in Paris.