- Globally, the death rate due to chronic respiratory diseases fell by 41.7% between 1990 to 2019. The Lancet.
- Despite doom and gloom news reports, France has one of the lowest levels of inequality in the world, one of the highest life expectancies, its workers retire earlier than anywhere else in Europe, unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2008, and it has the lowest climate footprint of any large wealthy country. The Guardian.
- Australia’s murder rate has fallen by 55% since the early 1990s. Since 2009, physical assaults are down by 39%, face-to-face threatened assaults are down 44%, and robberies are down 50%. The Conversation.
- Meet the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners: Alessandra Munduruku, who saved indigenous lands in the Amazon from mining, Chilekwa Mumba, who successfully sued the owners of a copper mine in Zambia, Delima Silalahi, who reclaimed swathes of Indonesia from a paper company, Zafer Kizilkaya, who expanded Turkey’s marine protected areas, Tero Mustonen, who pioneered peatland restoration in Finland, and Diane Wilson, who held a plastics company to account for dumping in Texas. Goldman Prize.
- 50 years ago, Project Puffin brought puffins back to Maine. There are now more than 1,300 breeding pairs. Down East.
- An estimated 68 million child marriages have been averted globally over the past 25 years. Unicef.
- World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthrough in energy density. The Driven.
For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.