Photo: Richard Burlton / Unsplash (CC0)
From better protection of the world’s oceans and forests to new models for better healthcare and community: here’s our recap of the most important constructive news and stories from the past month.
The High Seas Treaty, formally known as the BBNJ, has finally come into effect, marking a “monumental milestone for global ocean protection and multilateral cooperation”. NGOs are now focused on making sure the landmark deal delivers real-world conservation outcomes.
Source: Oceanographic Magazine
The milestone, reported by the Dutch nonprofit in its year-end summary, brings its total plastic recovery to more than 45 million kilos since operations began, making 2025 the project’s most impactful year yet in the fight against marine pollution.
Source: Noticias Ambientales
Ads from fossil fuel companies and meat producers will be banned in Amsterdam after the city council approved a new ban on climate-damaging advertising. The policy builds on restrictions first introduced in 2020 and now becomes part of local law, making Amsterdam the first capital to enact such a ban.
Source: NL Times
After operating as a pilot for two years, Zurich’s city-funded healthcare programme for uninsured people will now become permanent. The decision by the city parliament means undocumented residents can access treatment for chronic and long-term conditions, ending a system in which care was largely limited to medical emergencies.
Source: Alpine Weekly
With an increasing number of patients experiencing mental health crises presenting themselves at A&E, NHS emergency departments are feeling the strain. The new services provide 24/7 support, pledge to see patients within ten minutes, and aim to address the root causes of the mental health needs, such as homelessness or substance use.
Source: Good Good Good
The London police and mayor now say it is one of the safest cities in the world due to a twin approach of smarter and more focused work by officers and greater diversion efforts by youth workers. Homicides of under-25-year-olds have fallen dramatically from a peak of 69 in 2017 to just 18 last year.
Source: The Guardian
The decline is credited to a precision policing strategy that placed an unprecedented number of officers on city streets, particularly in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. The approach included thousands of additional officers assigned to foot patrols and targeted operations aimed at dismantling the city’s most violent gangs.
Source: CBS
San Francisco will also offer a 50% subsidy to those earning up to $310,000, in an expansion of the city’s childcare offerings designed to make one of the world’s most expensive cities more affordable for residents.
Source: The Guardian
Mother-to-child HIV transmission, also referred to as vertical transmission, affects millions of newborns worldwide. Now, thanks to extensive awareness campaigns and educational programmes, Brazil joins 19 territories worldwide that have been validated by WHO for eliminating mother-to-child transmission.
Source: POZ
The findings align with government data showing a sharp decline in poverty, which fell from 41.9% of the population in 2018 to 29.6% last year. According to INEGI, the number of people living in poverty dropped from 51.9 million in 2018 to 38.5 million in 2024.
Source: Mexico News Daily
According to a new UN report, the country has entered a more stable phase: poverty has fallen to approximately 17.5% and security improvements have allowed roughly five million internally displaced people to return to their homes. Progress can also be seen democratically, with recent parliamentary elections seeing a 56% turnout, with a third of the candidates identifying as female.
Source: UN News
The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects.
Source: The Guardian
Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere. It means that across a broad swathe of the Peruvian Amazon, the rainforest’s long-overlooked native bees now have the right to exist and to flourish.
Source: The Guardian
Described as “the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation”, the new legislation spans a wide range of protections, including bans on puppy farming, hen caging, pig farrowing crates, trail hunting, and more. Shooting hares in England will also be prohibited for most of the year, and the government will work with the farming industry to “explore how to transition…to alternative systems”.
Source: BBC News
Mayor Mike Duggan announced that Detroit’s residential blight removal programme has nearly fulfilled one of his signature campaign promises, cutting the number of abandoned Detroit Land Bank properties from 47,000 to fewer than 1,000. Vacant homes can become magnets for crime and create safety problems for nearby residents.
Source: WXYZ
Just north of Sacramento in the town of Olivehurst, a new “micro-community” of 3D-printed homes has a threefold mission: to resist climate change, to provide affordable and safe housing, and to act as a blueprint for the housing shortage solution.
Source: Good Good Good
Toronto’s former Downsview Airport is being reimagined as YZD: a $30 billion sustainable urban district built around nature, walkability, and low-carbon living. The plan replaces runways with green neighbourhoods, transit-first streets, and parks, anchored by the 1.6-mile former runway, transformed into a tree-lined, pedestrian boulevard.
Source: Newsweek
In the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in Brazil’s western Amazon, livelihoods remain closely tied to the forest. Named for Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper and labour leader killed in 1988 for defending forest communities, the reserve reflects an idea now re-embracing Brazil’s conservation policy: forests are best protected when the people who live in them can earn a sustainable living.
Source: Mongabay
Facing dwindling rainfall and growing water scarcity, communities in northern Ghana have turned to environment chiefs to protect their land. These local leaders are driving change on the ground, and influencing how the region adapts to a changing climate.
Source: DW
Chile’s government is set to create the country’s 47th national park, protecting nearly 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of pristine wilderness and completing a wildlife corridor stretching 1,700 miles (2,800km) to the southernmost tip of the continent.
Source: The Guardian
The solarpunk movement creates utopias of how the future might look if humanity succeeded in solving major contemporary challenges. Jeremy Dela Rosa and Nico Shi are part of it. In our new podcast episode, they tell us why the world needs new utopias that are open to technological progress, and how they connect communal living with benevolent AI.
Source: Squirrel News
The idea of rage rooms, where customers release stress by breaking objects, is believed to have started in Japan in the late 2000s. In the US, Donna Alexander recalls setting up a similar “anger room” in her Texas garage, letting people smash discarded items as a form of release.
Source: BBC News
The class is attended by men of varying abilities, aged between 50 and 80. The session begins with stretches before moving on to more strenuous exercises. So far the classes have been a success, with people noting improvements in their mental and physical wellbeing.
Source: The Guardian
“Over the past few years, [comedy] performance has emerged as a meaningful vehicle for female empowerment and social critique in parts of the Arab world,” says Elham Manea, a Swiss-based political scientist. “This visibility matters, women reach audiences well beyond activist or elite circles.”
Source: Deutsche Welle
At the Phoenix Theatre in Bordon, Hampshire, a mix of mums, babies, and some decidedly judgmental toddlers gather for Every Other Mother, a baby-friendly event combining stand-up, poetry, short stories, and other creative performances. The events are designed to give new parents a break from infant-centric conversation and meet others in their position.
Source: Positive News
What started as a grassroots campaign in Santa Barbara has grown into a programme with tens of thousands of volunteers. Cycling Without Age is helping tackle loneliness by offering older adults and people with limited mobility the simple joy of a bike ride.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
