Synopsis of last week's most important good news highlights.
Australia Referendum: Australia has set the date for its first referendum in 24 years. On 14 October, more than 17m registered voters will vote on whether to change the constitution to recognise formally the land’s original inhabitants. “On that day, every Australian will have a once in a generation chance to bring our country together and to change it for the better,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Free Lunches: A new millionaire’s tax in Massachusetts is paying for free school lunches for all children. The new 4 percent tax on the state's wealthiest residents will generate $1 billion, a portion of which will provide all public-school students with free weekday meals.
First Chicks in 200 Years: A pair of ospreys has successfully bred in Ireland for the first time in 200 years. The birds were driven to local extinction in the 18th century, but the new chicks provide hope for a comeback amid reintroduction efforts.
DSA: The EU’s Digital Services Act has come into effect, putting transformational restrictions on 19 “very large platforms.” That's good news for users, and leaves the US in its wake.
Giving it Away: Associated Press reported that MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has given more than $14 billion to 1,621 charities since 2020.
'Field of Dreams' Moment: Huge price reductions, lots of new models and plenty of availability looks set to provide a boost to the electric vehicle market, which has already seen record sales in 2023.
US Clean Air: NASA's groundbreaking mission called TEMPO has started to bear its first fruits. The mission - which stands for Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution - to monitor major air pollutants from space over North America was launched earlier this year and has started producing its first data maps. The mission aims to support the Biden-Harris administration’s climate agenda and their vision of clean air as a fundamental right for all citizens.
Unretirees: This year, the over-55s accounted for the biggest rise in new trainee teachers in England, with a 75 percent increase in applications. Now Teach, a charity whose direct targeting of older people has seen their numbers rise 88 percent year on year, compared with a 6 percent rise across all age groups.
Miyawaki Forests: Tiny forests are popping up across the US, with sites in Washington, LA, and Cambridge, says the New York Times. Based on the Miyawaki method, these densely planted native forests grow up to 10 times the speed of conventional planting, with these postage-stamp-sized plots delivering big environmental benefits in cities around the world.
Record Investment: New data published by Bloomberg shows that in just the first six months of 2023, global new investment in renewable energy grew to $358 billion, representing a 22 percent rise compared to the same period last year, and an all-time high for any six-month period.
Urban Composting: Composting is already mandatory in Queens, New York, and will roll out across New York City and Brooklyn over the next year. The program requires residents to separate food scraps and yard waste from their trash and is thanks to the Zero Waste Act that passed this summer, says the New York Times.
Zero-Waste Island: First it was declared a national park, then it became energy self-sufficient. Now the small Greek island of Tilos has become the world’s first zero-waste island. The changes have been vast. Before the project began, the island sent 87 per cent of its waste to landfill; now 100 per cent of it is diverted from the dump.
Student Loan Forgiveness: Earlier this month, more than 800,000 student loan borrowers in the US started having their debts discharged, after the government announced it would forgive a combined $39 billion in federal student loan debt. In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved more than $116.6 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers.
India Electric Buses: India’s federal government has just approved nearly $7 billion for a nationwide plan to equip the biggest cities in the country with electric buses. In a public / private partnership the aim is to put 10,000 electric buses across 170 cities.
UK Coal Closure: UK's largest opencast coal mine confirms closure. Campaigners had been pushing for the site in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, to close since its planning permission expired in September last year after 15 years. Now, it's done.
Progress in Nepal: Nepal has made significant progress in basic and secondary education in the last five years, reports the World Bank. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of out-of-school children was reduced by 7 percent; high school completion rates increased from 11.5 percent to 33 percent; and 8.2 million students benefitted from direct interventions to enhance learning, of which 4.07 million were girls.
Green Cement: A climate-friendly cement has just become the first to win third-party certification for use in construction projects. This is important because nearly 8 percent of total global carbon dioxide emissions are generated by cement manufacturing. The certified cement is part of a push to develop low-carbon and carbon-negative alternatives, collectively called green cement.
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Today's Articles
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