Good news that happened this year

2022 has not been an easy year for many of us. Defined by the outburst of a devastating war in Ukraine, extreme summer in many parts of the world as a result of the climate crisis, unprecedented flooding in Pakistan and an ongoing breach of human rights in Iran.

A great deal of pain and injustice has taken and is taking place all over the world, but there’s one thing all these instances have in common, and it’s hope. Changemakers keep on resisting the harmful status quo and keep fighting for what is right. Change is the only constant in this world and we have to do everything in our power to make a change for the better.

Let’s not lose sight of the good that happened throughout this year. Here’s a list of what went right in 2022:

Animals

• Once-endangered humpback whales are growing in population globally thanks to conservation efforts
• Up from just 2,000 in 2020, researchers counted nearly 250,000 monarch butterflies in California in 2021
• After nearly going extinct in the region, as many as 150 fin whales were seen feeding off the coast of Antarctica
• After decades of conservation efforts, China announced giant pandas are no longer endangered
• The Galapagos National Park announced that 36 endangered giant tortoises, born and raised in captivity, were released into the wild on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos islands
• The U.S. has saved millions of adoptable pets from being euthanized by moving them from states with too many, to states that need more
• Beavers are now a protected species in England 400 years after they were hunted to extinction
• In India, for over half a century extinct cheetahs have been reintroduced into the wild

Environment

• The Great Barrier Reef in Australia shows best signs of coral recovery in 36 years
• The world's largest floating wind farm was approved to be built off the coast of the United Kingdom
• In September, Hawaii’s last coal plant was closed
• California will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars starting in 2025
• France bans short-haul domestic flights
• Belgium cracks down on private jets and short-haul flights with new tax
• Lula, the Brazilian president, pledges to end deforestation in the Amazon after election victory
• Renewables have saved 230 million tonnes of CO2 emissions so far in 2022
• Taiwan is transforming unused metro stations into underground vertical farms
• Denmark becomes first country to pay for ‘loss and damage’ from climate crisis
• Scientists predict the hole in the ozone layer will close in the next 50 years
• France becomes first European country to ban fossil fuel ads
• China is transitioning to renewable energy (primarily solar) faster than any other country
• On a global level, the world will establish as much renewable energy in the next five years as it did in the last two decades

Human rights

• The death penalty was abolished in Malaysia, Zambia, the Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea and Equatorial Guinea
• Pakistan passed a new law significantly strengthening protections for women in the workplace
• India's Supreme Court ruled that police cannot take criminal action against sex workers, and gave them access to social welfare, bank accounts and voting rights
• Philippines banned child marriage
• Slovenia became the 31st country to legalize same-sex marriage
• Canada, France, New Zealand and Greece all officially banned conversion therapy
• The US Congress took its first significant act on gun safety in nearly three decades in 2022 and 45 new gun safety laws were adopted
• Indigenous sovereignty is finally getting attention: 523 acres of California redwood forest were returned to a group of Native American tribes

There is always time to make a change. A positive one.

We wish you happy holidays and happy 2023.