• Human rights are much better protected than they were one or two hundred years ago. Our World in Data.
• Rare Caribbean wildlife species saved from extinction. BBC.
• Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped to its lowest level since March 2018. Mongabay.
• Over the past decades, Nepal is the only developing country in the world that doubled its forest cover to 45 percent. Nepal has further tripled its tiger population to 355 wild cats in the last 15 years. World Bank.
• Solar power’s giants are providing more energy than big oil. Bloomberg.
• Clean-energy investment this year to be twice that of fossil fuels. WSJ.
• 23.9% of all new cars sold in California last quarter were zero-emission vehicles. California Energy Commission.
• Scientists find plastic-eating fungus feasting on Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Futurism.
• Maryland governor pardons over 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions. Reuters.
• The world’s first coal-to-nuclear reactor plant just broke ground in Kemmerer, Wyoming. electrek.
• Gas power output nearly halves in California in one year as batteries steal the show. The Progress Playbook.
• A CRISPR gene-editing therapy for cystic fibrosis has been successful in mice. New Scientist.
• Iberian lynx is no longer endangered. ABC News.
• Sierra Leone bans child marriage. Semafor.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

• The last ozone-layer damaging chemicals to be phased out are decreasing in the atmosphere and the ozone layer is recovering. The Conversation.
• Canadian province of Alberta quits coal power six years ahead of schedule. The Progress Playbook.
• The uninsurance rate for Black Americans declined from 20.9% in 2010 to 10.8% in 2022. US Dept of Health and Human Services.
• Violent crime is down and the US murder rate is plunging. CNN.
• Thailand to become first Southeast Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. CNN.
• In the US, half a million undocumented spouses will be shielded from deportation and given a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. The New York Times.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

• Investments in tropical diseases have saved 8 million lives since 2000. 32 million more lives could be saved by 2040. Vox.
• Deaths from tetanus have declined from 250,000 each year in the early 1990s to less than 35,000 by 2019 thanks to vaccines. Our World in Data.
• Free contraception and sex education helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%. Reuters.
• Global spending on clean energy this year is set to be twice the amount going to fossil fuels. IEA.
• Long-range EVs now cost less than the average new car in the US. Bloomberg.
• Additions of fossil fuel-based electricity capacity peaked in 2010, oil and gas capital expenditure peaked in 2014, and internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales have declined from their highs of 2017. Fossil fuel demand peaked in the industrial sector in 2014 and in the buildings sector in 2018. The Progress Playbook.
• A new study reveals elephants can call each other by name. Vox.
• AI discovers nearly 1 million new antibiotics. Penn Medicine News.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

• India achieves 16% decline in new TB cases, 18% reduction in mortality since 2015. The Hindu.
• Melinda French Gates is committing $1 billion to women’s rights. New York Times.
• Domestic violence rates in Australia fall by two-thirds since the 90s. AFR.
• Since its peak in 2009, the number of people in prison in the US has declined by 24 percent and the Black imprisonment rate has declined by 46 percent since 2008. FWD.
• In the US, Murder is down around 18 to 19 percent in more than 260 cities with available YTD data for 2024 compared to the same timeframe in 2023. Jeff-alytics.
• One man, Piyush Tewari, determined to prevent traffic fatalities, set up the SaveLIFE Foundation which has saved hundreds of thousands of lives on India’s roadways. Rolex.
• Cancer-causing benzene levels were cut in half at US refineries in 2023. EHN.
• India adds record 10 GW of solar capacity in Q1 2024, marking almost 400% year over year increase. The Economic Times.
• In April, battery electric vehicle sales in Brazil increased 1,120% over the year prior. Clean Technica.
• New Jersey ditched cash bail. Now thousands fewer are in jail and crime didn’t go up. The Trace.
• NASA satellites can predict flash droughts months in advance based on the glow of plants. Space.com.
• Even in Saudi Arabia, renewable power is cheaper than fossil fuels. The Economic Times.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.