Ever feel like the world is f*@ked and all the news is bad? I have GOOD news!
After the obliteration of womens rights in certain states of the US and the plastic bag found at the bottom of the world deepest oceans this week, I think we could all do with some good news.
The clever people at Future Crunch is a group of scientists, artists, researchers and entrepreneurs that believes science and technology are creating a world that is more peaceful, connected and abundant. Their mission is to foster intelligent, optimistic thinking about the future, and to empower people to contribute to a 21st century that works for everyone.
Here are some great news stories that main stream media might have missed:
- Last year, more global coal capacity was closed than approved for the first time since the 19th century, and the UK just had its first coal-free week since 1882. BBC
- Chile has reached its 2025 clean energy targets six years ahead of schedule, and says it’s now on track for 70% electricity from renewables by 2030. BN Americas
- The world’s largest car supplier, Bosch, says it will be fully carbon neutral by 2020, making it the first major industrial company to take that step. Reuters
- Big new dataset here, we’ve been waiting for this for a while. The proportion of people in extreme poverty has fallen from 36% in 1990 to 8.6% in 2018. Absolute numbers are down from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 610 million in 2018. ODI
- The 2019 election in India is on track for the highest turnout in history, driven by unprecedented numbers of women voters, who may be the majority this year. Quartz
- The number of people incarcerated in American prisons has declined again, to 1.48 million people, down from 1.61 million in 2009. Washington Post
- New Global Burden of Disease Report says that between 1990 and 2017, deaths of kids and teenagers decreased by 51.7%, from 13.77 million to 6.64 million. CNN
- The United Nations says that 187 countries have agreed to control the movement of plastic waste between national borders, in an effort to curb waste. CNN
- Tanzania has become the latest country to implement a plastic ban. From the 1st June, no one will be allowed to produce, import, sell or use plastic bags. WWF
- California, the United States’ most productive agricultural state, has banned a widely used pesticide blamed for harming brain development in babies. Associated Press
- Costa Rica has doubled its forest cover in the last 30 years; half its land surface is now covered with trees, a huge carbon sink and a big draw for tourists. NYT
If you like these stories, sign up to the future crunch newsletter and you can get a whole bunch of them every month.
