Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
If you want to get good news in your inbox every day, join the Goodnewsletter — the free daily newsletter designed to leave you feeling hopeful.
The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
A new report found that renewables will officially surpass coal in energy production next year
Due to an increase in heatwaves around the world, the International Energy Agency’s new report predicts electricity demand will see record-high growth rates.
Not only are renewables tasked with replacing fossil fuels — they’re also needed to meet that rise in electricity demand. And they’re up to the task: the IEA predicts the amount generated by renewable energy sources will increase from 30% in 2023 to 35% in 2025.
While solar will meet around half of the growth in demand on its own in the coming years, combined with wind, it will meet three-quarters of the growth. Thanks to explosive growth in renewable electricity generation — the IEA predicts it will officially surpass coal next year.
→ Read more
More good climate news:
- Telling them to “stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction,” the UN called on advertising and PR agencies to drop their fossil fuel clients.
- A neighborhood in Massachusetts was selected for the country’s first-ever geothermal heating & cooling network.
- A crucial raw ingredient in the fight against climate change, an innovative aluminum plant will reduce CO2 by 75% and double production.
- Small island nations won a major international legal victory that puts more pressure on large governments to curb their carbon emissions.
One in five cars sold this year will be battery-powered — with a record 17 million total sold
Electric vehicles are breaking sales records all over the world. According to new estimates, 17 million new fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be sold this year — up from 13.7 million last year.
China still leads the world in EV sales, with over 10 million fully electric and plug-in electric vehicles expected to be sold this year alone. Estimates show that battery-powered vehicles could make up 45% of total car sales in the country.
Globally, over one-fifth of vehicles sold will be fully electric or plug-in hybrid this year — in 2018, it was around 2%. And companies are taking notice by ramping up production of EVs.
While we still have a long way to go to enjoy the environmental (and health) benefits of a world filled with electric vehicles, this is incredible progress to celebrate — and continue.
In another historic milestone, the 7th person in the world has now likely been cured of HIV
Joining just six other people in the world, a man in Germany has likely been cured of HIV. Treated for leukemia with a stem cell transplant in 2015, he’s now the seventh person in the world to be in remission.
Since he stopped taking antiretroviral drugs in 2018, there has been no HIV detected in his body, leading experts and scientists to believe he has officially been cured.
To catch this HIV was initially a death sentence, but today, thanks to antiretroviral and pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs it can be kept in check. While scientists keep inching closer to one — like in this case — there is still no cure.
What’s the nuance? A stem cell transplant is a risky and complicated procedure — often too risky to offer as a cure for everyone with HIV. Still, each time scientists cure a new case, they are given invaluable insights to lead them closer to a cure for everyone.
Mattel just unveiled two new inclusive Barbies, including the first-ever Blind Barbie
One year after Barbie hit the big screen, Mattel just introduced some new historic dolls to its world-renowned catalog, including the brand’s first-ever Blind Barbie.
As part of the brand’s Fashionista line, the doll was created in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind to ensure that the doll accurately depicts individuals with blindness or low vision.
This new Fashionista line also includes a Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome. Like the first Barbie with Down syndrome that was introduced in 2023, this one was created with the National Down Syndrome Society as well as a focus group of Black individuals from the Down syndrome community.
More good Barbie news:
- Part of its Inspiring Women Series, Mattel made a Jane Goodall Barbie out of recycled ocean-bound plastics.
- Ahead of the 2024 Olympics, Mattel released a series of nine dolls honoring trailblazing women athletes around the world with one-of-a-kind Barbies.
- An all-women and majority women-of-color orchestra has been bringing the “Barbie” concert experience to life this summer across the country.
Oregon just launched a program providing families with a new baby a free at-home visit with a nurse
As part of a new statewide program called Family Connects, any family in Oregon with a new baby can get up to three no-cost visits at home with a trained nurse.
On those visits, the nurses do all the normal check-ups for the baby, while the parents can ask questions, share frustrations, or receive comfort during a time when they’re feeling most exhausted and overwhelmed. Participants say it’s helped their mental health, too.
Based off a program developed in North Carolina, research shows Family Connects has many significant benefits, including a decline in trips to the emergency room by new parents.
Why is this good news? The U.S. has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of all wealthy countries. While new parents visit pediatricians, the visits are infrequent and often short. Oregon’s program hopes to bridge that gap to help address those high mortality rates.
An Israeli and Palestinian peace activist duo spoke to lawmakers while Netanyahu addressed Congress
Vice President (and presidential hopeful) Kamala Harris and more than 30 other lawmakers elected not to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress yesterday.
For those that sat out, there was another option: To hear from Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, respectively.
The duo have worked together since October 2023 to advocate for peace between Israel and Palestine, including giving a shared TED Talk, and speaking before Pope Francis, to heed the call for an end to the bloodshed.
Ahead of the event, Inon shared, “Instead of sending Israel weapons and tools of destruction, it's time to send Palestinians and Israelis tools of reconciliation. Instead of marginalizing peacemakers, it's time that they sit at the negotiation table.”
The room was filled with lawmakers looking to “hear a message of hope in how to move forward.”
The Paris 2024 Olympics organizers have promised to make them the ‘greenest’ Games in history by halving its carbon footprint
With a promise to halve the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016, the Paris 2024 organizing committee has implemented a number of initiatives to reach its sustainability goals.
While London built six new stadiums, and Rio built 10 permanent and seven temporary, only two of the 35 stadiums hosting events will be new in Paris. Plus, they were built using “low-carbon construction methods” and featuring recycled local plastic waste.
Paris is also using the same recycled cardboard beds that Tokyo 2020 famously used in its Olympic Village. Additionally, spectators and the Games’ workforce will enjoy double the proportion of plant-based ingredients, as well as 80% of ingredients sourced locally.
What’s the nuance? It remains to be seen if these initiatives will add up to a halved carbon footprint, and the Games have one significantly more challenging hurdle to consider: spectator travel can account for around 80% of a sporting event’s total emissions. Still, the sustainability efforts, while imperfect, are a standard-setting point of progress to celebrate.
A nonbinary runner on Team USA is helping ‘set the stage for what’s possible’ and calling for compassion
Nikki Hiltz is a 29-year-old nonbinary middle-distance runner, who earned their ticket to Paris by running the second-fastest time ever of any American in the women’s 1500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
But as trans athletes grapple with the nuanced — and often politically charged — issues of sex and gender identity in sports, Hiltz has seen their fair share of hurdles, including hateful comments, misgendering, and doubt of their genuine abilities.
In an interview, Hiltz had one message for people who are confused or upset by their participation in the Games.
“It’s not about comprehension; it’s about compassion,” Hiltz said. “If someone’s asking you, ‘hey [my name is] Michael but I want to be called Mike,’ you say ‘oh okay’ and you have compassion for them. It’s the same thing.”
And Hiltz, who joins a growing group of LGBTQ+ Olympians, knows that message goes so much further than the Games, saying, “I just think sports is such a beautiful place that we’re setting the stage for what’s possible in every work environment, as well.”
More good news of the week —
The first comedy club in the U.S. for sober-curious guests just opened in Boston. SoBar Comedy serves non-alcoholic beers and mocktails, crafted in collaboration with Dray Drinks, the city’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop.
An endangered fish just gained critical habitat protection in Tennessee. Threatened by invasive fish, droughts and severe floods, and livestock intrusion, the minnowfish will be protected in 1.5 acres of spring pools and 11.4 miles of flowing springs across six counties.
To help solve Namibia’s housing crisis, a sustainable development project is building homes with mushroom waste and weeds. Taking an innovative approach, the project notably uses encroacher bushes that push out grass and other vegetation and impact the groundwater supply.
The U.S. government announced its plans to phase out purchasing single-use plastics. The government is the largest purchaser of consumer goods in the world, and this new initiative could make a real impact on plastic pollution.
The world’s largest study on guaranteed income programs found that people took better jobs, went back to school, and more. Right away, the data clearly showed that cash helped people spend more on their basic needs — in addition to helping them find a “sense of self.”
In an exciting milestone for the endangered species, four zoos in North America have welcomed newborn red pandas. The adorable animals are threatened by habitat loss, human interference, and poaching, but conservation and research institutions around the globe have stepped in to protect them.
New data shows Thailand’s tiger population has doubled over the past two decades, thanks to the country’s rangers. In addition to efforts to restore key habitats and water sources, long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols have helped control poaching.
The U.S. EPA has awarded $4.3 billion to greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in 30 states. The money will go to 25 projects targeting emissions from transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture and waste and materials management.
A U.S.-based company just made a breakthrough in hydropower generation with its “fish-safe turbines.” While dam removal projects have been shown to revive fish species, these turbines could be another solution for generating clean energy while protecting river ecosystems.
Nearly 12,000 acres of land were just returned to a Native American tribe in Minnesota. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act was signed into law in 2020, reversing a land seizure by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1940s.
New “smart soil” is dramatically reducing the amount of freshwater required to grow food. Professors at the University of Texas at Austin have engineered a new type of gel-infused soil that helps plants water and feed themselves, growing 138% bigger crops while using 40% less water.
The largest co-located solar and battery storage system in the U.S. is now officially operational. The Gemini Solar + Storage project in Nevada features 1.8 million bifacial solar panels and enough battery storage to provide 1,400 MWh of clean power after the sun sets.
Paris 2024 is the first time in history the Olympics will achieve gender parity. Out of the 10,500 athletes participating in the Games, there will be 5,250 men and 5,250 women, as well as a more even distribution of medal events.
Thanks to initiatives promoting less car use, Paris has seen a 40% decline in air pollution ahead of the Olympics. The city closed more than 100 streets to cars, tripled SUV parking fees, removed around 50,000 parking spots, and constructed over 800 miles of bike lanes since 2014.
For the first time in history, the Olympic Village will have a nursery for athletes with children. A result of the advocacy of Allyson Felix — the most decorated track and field athlete in history — the nursery has a dedicated space for childcare, as well as diapers, wipes, and other essentials.
Paris is turning an industrial neighborhood into the Olympic Village — and it will become permanent housing post-Games. The new low-carbon, mixed-use neighborhood is located in a part of the city that needs more housing, and it will eventually have bus stations, bike paths, a park, and retail space, too.
Threatened with violence and death, Afghanistan’s first woman breakdancer is competing on the Olympics Refugee Team. Though she faced intense obstacles to do it, Manizha Talash is now living her biggest dream since breaking was announced as a new Olympics category.
Hailing from 11 different countries, 37 athletes will compete in Paris as part of the Refugee Olympic Team. The team was created for the Rio Games in 2016 as a symbol of hope and to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis.
Despite the Taliban banning women from sports, two sisters will compete in cycling under Afghanistan’s flag. The duo grew up in Faryab, one of the most remote and conservative provinces, where it was practically unheard of to see women on bicycles.
