In today’s edition, we’re talking about Ethiopia’s plan to plant more than seven billion trees by 2025, the Belgian town giving randomly selected residents real policymaking power, and how commuters in Warsaw can take a break from their screens thanks to a library inside the metro.
Elizabeth Jacyshyn-Owen
Korea to phase out coal, Colombia bans drilling and mining in Amazon, Australia bans social media for under-16s
We’re wrapping up the week at Squirrel News talking about South Korea’s pledge to end coal power by 2040, Colombia’s halt on the authorisation of new oil developments and mining operations in its portion of the Amazon rainforest, and the world-first social media ban for children in Australia.
Countries step up on climate action, Brazil creates new Indigenous territories, LA’s pop-up wetlands
In today’s edition, we’re exploring how global climate action is picking up speed, Brazil’s move to establish new Indigenous territories, and the guerrilla campaign in LA reconnecting waterways with nature.
UK sets out plan to phase out animal testing, graduating with $1000, sanctuary for gay sheep
We’re closing out the week at Squirrel News talking about the UK government’s announcement that animal testing will be phased out by 2030, the financial literacy programmes supporting US high school graduates, and the “gay sheep” rescuers saving rams from near-certain death.
Bank accounts for homeless people, France’s composting capital, mob grazing
Today at Squirrel News, we’re talking about how the five biggest UK banks have launched a pilot scheme to make banking accessible for homeless people, how a small city in France managed to cut organic waste by 40%, and a unique solution to restoring Senegal’s degraded grasslands.
Free electricity in Australia, Lithuania halves suicide rate, litter-picking becomes global competitive sport
We’re closing out the week at Squirrel News talking about how Australia is planning to give away free solar power due to a national surplus, Japan’s litter-picking scheme becoming a global sport, and how Lithuania managed to reduce its suicide rate by more than 50%.
Australia’s treaty with Aboriginal peoples, NYC elects first Muslim mayor, Europe’s landmark climate ruling
In today’s edition, we’re exploring a first-of-its-kind legislation between Australia’s First Peoples and the Victorian parliament, Zohran Mamdani’s landslide win making him New York’s first Muslim mayor, and the EHRC’s new ruling to strengthen climate accountability for fossil fuel projects.
Maldives bans smoking for new generations, world’s largest heat pump, global extinction rates slow
At Squirrel News, we’re kicking off November talking about how the Maldives became the only country in the world with a generational smoking ban, the world’s largest heat pump entering construction in Germany, and new research suggesting that extinction rates are slowing across the globe.
25 stories of progress and solutions from October 2025
A new month is on the doorstep, so it’s time for a look back at the stories that caught our editors’ attention over the past four weeks! From concrete data that suggests people are feeling safer and more optimistic than ever to renewables overtaking coal as the planet’s main source of energy, there’s a lot to get excited about in today’s edition.
The crowdfunding campaigns rebuilding Syria, stronger-than-steel superwood, “pay as you throw” waste disposal
We’re kicking off the week talking about the enormous grassroots community effort gathering money to reconstruct Syria, a new type of wood that’s stronger and more sustainable than steel, and a new approach to waste disposal that encourages residents to rethink their habits.
First-ever greenwashing conviction in France, deforestation drops for third decade in a row, London’s scream clubs
We’re wrapping up the week at Squirrel News talking about the Paris activists taking a greenwashing oil giant to court and winning, the global drop in deforestation over the past thirty years, and the scream clubs emerging as a new kind of “third space” for Londoners.
Ireland rolls out basic income for artists, new treatment for ADA-SCID sees 100% survival rate, California quits coal
We’re closing out the week at Squirrel News talking about Ireland’s provision of a basic income for artists and creative arts works, a breakthrough experimental therapy for a deadly genetic disease, and California’s decision to stop receiving electricity from the last coal plant it relies on.
