Happy new year everyone! If you have been fed up with the overload of bad news from the past year and are in need of some good news to start the year, we’ve made you an overview of positive, historic and inspiring news for 2021. Because we believe our thoughts and actions can give shape to reality.
JANUARY – Renewable energy overtook fossil fuels as EU’s main power source. An annual report tracking power use in the European Union has revealed that renewables delivered 38% of the total electricity in 2020, just about squeaking ahead of the 37% generated by fossil fuels. European emissions from electricity have been falling at record rates over the past five years, becoming almost 30% cleaner since 2015. The changes is largely the result of the growing capacity of solar and wind power, both of which have almost doubled and accounting for almost one-fifth of total electricity production. Meanwhile coal power has dropped by one-fifth, and now accounts for a record low 13% of electricity produced in Europe.
Source: Renewables overtook fossil fuels as EU’s main power source in 2020 – EURACTIV.com
FEBRUARY – China has published a new list of nationally protected wild animals, adding more than 500 species to a more than 30-year-old catalogue that defines protection levels for wild animals. Conservationists are calling the long-awaited revision “a significant move” by those responsible for protecting the country’s wild animals. Under the new list, 235 species have been granted first-class protection, while 753 others are listed under second-class protection. People involved in poaching first-class protected animals can receive longer jail sentences and steeper fines.
Source: After 30 Years, China Revises Its Protected Wild Animals List (sixthtone.com)
MARCH – Hayek Hospital in Beirut (Lebanon) launched a plant-based diet as a natural step along the pathway to recovery and optimal health, becoming the first hospital in the world to serve vegan-only meals to its patients. The hospital decided that patients should not wake up to meals that could advance the health issues that brought them to the hospital in the first place. “When the World Health Organization classifies processed meat as a group 1A carcinogenic – the same group as tobacco – and red meat as Group 2A carcinogenic, then serving meat in a hospital is like serving cigarettes in a hospital,” the hospital explained. “When adopting a plant-based diet has been scientifically proven not only to stop the evolution of certain diseases but also reverse them.”
Looking to stop using animal products? Why not join https://veganuary.com/ and give it a try?
APRIL – Atlanta has transformed seven acres of land into what is believed to be the largest free food forest in the country. In the edible space, 2,500 pesticide-free plants and mushrooms are growing, providing fruits, vegetables and nuts for the underserved Browns Mill area. In this neighbourhood, one in three residents is reported to live in poverty, with the nearest grocery store being a 30-minute bus ride away. Food forests are low-maintenance, sustainable arrangements of edible plants that are designed to mimic natural ecosystems. Comprised mostly of perennial plants, there’s no need for tilling, weeding, fertilizing or irrigation. The concept has taken off in recent years as cities have started to integrate edible public spaces in their planning.
Source: Atlanta Has Created the Largest Free Food Forest in the Country – Modern Farmer
MAY – In a landmark climate case, multinational oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell has been ordered to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% (net) by the end of 2030 compared to its emissions in 2019. The lawsuit was filed by the environmental organisation Milieudefensie, alongside other major charities and thousands of co-plaintiffs. A Dutch court ruled Royal Dutch Shell to cut its emissions faster than planned, on the grounds that the oil giant is violating human rights by contributing to global warming. The case is unique in that no compensation is being demanded from the company. Instead, for the first time in history, Shell is being asked to issue a policy change. Climate lawyers are preparing to take on more fossil-fuel companies.
What you can do: become a co-plaintiff of environmental organisations in your country of residence.
JUNE – The panda is on the road to recovery. For fifty years, it has been the world’s most beloved conservation icon and the symbol of WWF. Decades of dedicated effort are now paying off as giant pandas are no longer classified as ‘endangered’. They’ve been downgraded to ‘vulnerable’ on the global list of species at risk of extinction after their population increased by 17% in a decade. It shows that conservation efforts are working and provides hope for the world’s other threatened wildlife.
What you can do: support WWF helping to protect endangered species. Unfortunately not all animals are cute and cuddly creatures such as the panda. Therefore the Ugly Animal Preservation Society was established to raise the profile of some of nature’s more aesthetically challenged creatures: if you want to learn about neglected animals such as the dromedary jumping slug, the aye aye and the blob fish, visit uglyanimalsoc.com
JULY – In a bid to stop illegal trawling, an Italian fisherman persuaded sculptors to create huge marble artworks and then dropped them in the Mediterranean. While Italian law bans trawling, it’s so profitable that it’s not enough to stop illegal fishing and the impact is devasting: Fishing nets are weighed down with heavy chains to be dragged on the sea bottom, uprooting all the seagrass that is key to the Mediterranean ecosystem because sea bream, lobsters and red gurnards lay their eggs there. Paolo Fanciulli got permission to drop concrete blocks into the sea in an effort to disrupt the trawlers. However, he wondered: what if, instead of dropping concrete blocks into the water, he dropped art? A quarry in nearby Carrara donated 100 marble blocks and Fanciulli persuaded artists to carve sculptures from the marble. The underwater sculptures create both a physical barrier for nets and a unique underwater museum. The sculptures are placed in a circle, 4m apart, with an obelix at the centre.
Source: Underwater museum: how ‘Paolo the fisherman’ made the Med’s strangest sight | Fishing | The Guardian
AUGUST – In the city of Melbourne you can send emails to any tree. Melbourne has more than 70,000 trees, and for their urban forest strategy each one of them has an email address. The purpose of the email was for members of the public to inform the council of any trees that needed attention, such as a tree declining in health. However, people have used the emails to send love letters and fan mail instead. An excerpt of a letter: “My dearest Ulmus, As I was leaving St. Mary’s College today I was struck, not by a branch, but by your radiant beauty. You must get these messages all the time. You’re such an attractive tree.”
Source: You Can Send Emails To Any Tree In The City Of Melbourne – Secret Melbourne
SEPTEMBER – If you haven’t heard about the ozone hole in years, that’s because scientists did a pretty good job saving us from ourselves. In 1985, atmospheric scientists in Antarctica noticed the thickness of the ozone layer (the layer of gas that deflects much of the sun’s radiation) started plummeting. Their discovery was cause for worldwide alarm and unprecedented action leading to the ban of the chemical that caused the damage, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and to restore the ozone layer. Today the ozone is on the path to recovery and the world’s response to the ozone crisis should be seen as an instructive, even inspiring, success story — one that can perhaps inform our response to the climate crisis.
Source: When the world actually solved an environmental crisis – Vox
OCTOBER – In 1979, at 16, environmental activist Jadav “Molai” Payeng started planting a tree a day. Now over 40 years later, his forest covers 1,390 acres – approximately the size of 15 football stadiums. In the beginning planting trees was time consuming until the trees started providing the seed themselves. As his forest grew dense, so did the amount of inhabitants. Soon, the forest was filled with hundreds of species of birds, with deer, rhinos and tigers, and even included a herd of elephants straying into his forest three months out of the year. Jadav recently gained the attention of the Indian government and then the entire country — winning multiple awards for his incredible achievements and giving TED talks. He has been the subject of award-winning documentaries and also inspired a children’s book, Jadav and the Tree Place.
NOVEMBER – Marine biologists have recently discovered that whales play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. Firstly, the whales’ enormous carbon capture potential comes from the accumulation of carbon in their bodies during their long lives. When they die and sink to the bottom of the ocean, they sequester 33 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries (a tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year). Secondly, wherever whales are found, so are populations of phytoplankton. These microscopic creatures contribute to at least 50 % of all oxygen to our atmosphere, while also capturing about 37 billion metric tons of CO2, an estimated 40 % of all CO2 produced. To put things in perspective, this is equivalent to the amount of CO2 captured by 1.70 trillion trees – four Amazon forests’ worth. Scientists have discovered that whales have a multiplier effect of increasing phytoplankton production wherever they go because they bring minerals up to the ocean surface through their vertical movement and through their migration across oceans. This fertilizing activity adds significantly to phytoplankton growth and more phytoplankton means more carbon capture. Therefore, a “no-tech” strategy to capture carbon from the atmosphere comes from an increase in global whale populations.
DECEMBER – The Sea Women of Melanesia have been named Champions of the Earth, the UN’s highest environmental award. The Sea Woman are a group of divers who give women in the South Pacific region the skills to monitor the health of coral reefs, and create and restore marine protected areas. Coral reefs are like the rainforest of the sea and they are under siege from climate change, overfishing and pollution. Since 2009 alone, almost 14 % of the world’s corals have disappeared and many of those that remain are endangered. The Sea Woman are passionate about marine conservation and combine local community knowledge with science in order to support marine protected areas and ensuring there is abundant fish life for villagers to rely on in future.
Source: Champions of the Earth: The Sea Women of Melanesia | | UN News