Good news you probably didn't hear about
New data dump from the UN, WHO & World Bank, showing that the first two decades of the 21st century have seen the largest decline in maternal deaths in human history. Between 2000 and 2020, the annual number of women dying while pregnant or within 42 days of giving birth fell from 447,000 to 287,000, and the lifetime risk of a 15-year-old girl dying from maternal causes almost halved.
UNICEF on how the lives of girls around the world have improved in the last decade. More girls are completing high school, fewer are having children, more have access to family planning, fewer child marriages take place, female genital mutilation has decreased and the proportion of girls being infected by HIV has fallen. It's not enough - but it shows that progress is possible.
Around 90 million women of working age have gained full legal equality in the last decade. It's not even close to enough. Billions of women remain disenfranchised, and dismantling centuries of patriarchy is going to take generations. It is a start though. In 2010, no woman in the world had the same legal rights as a man (h/t to our friends at the Progress Network for this one). World Bank
Did you know that women’s groups in India are one of the world's largest and most successful examples of community development? Over 80 million women participate in 7.5 million groups, and in the past decade they've become a key component of the country's economy, contributing to one of the biggest and quickest reductions of poverty in history. Project Syndicate
On International Women’s Day, Emmanuel Macron announced that the French government will introduce a bill to add reproductive rights to the country’s constitution, a move supported by a majority of French people. The legislation will allow France to “carve in stone women’s freedom to turn to abortion." Bloomberg
New legislation banning child marriage has come into force in England and Wales, a major step forward for women's rights. Girls younger than 18 can no longer get married or have a civil partnership even if their parents give consent. Previously, religious marriages were legally permitted to occur at any age. "We’ve campaigned for this change for a decade." Independent
Australian unions have won significant changes to improve the lives of working women in the last 12 months, including more parental leave, more rights to flexible work, wage increases in female-dominated sectors, stronger equal pay laws, and new protections from discrimination. "There is more to be done, and we are not giving up." ACTU
British Columbia has become the first jurisdiction in Canada to make prescription contraception free to all residents. This includes oral hormone pills, contraceptive injections, intrauterine devices, subdermal implants and the morning-after pill. "This is a win for health, and it's a win for gender equity in our province." CBC
The campaign to make insulin less expensive just scored a major victory, with Eli Lilly, one of the three biggest manufacturers in the US, announcing it will cap the price at $35 per month. More than eight million Americans with diabetes rely on insulin; this move will be life-changing for those who are financially insecure or not properly insured. Vox
Regular readers will know about Zipline, who run the world's largest drone delivery program. Since 2019, they've delivered nearly eight millions doses of vaccines in Ghana, and are now responsible for one tenth of all the country's vaccine deliveries, disproportionately reaching vulnerable and remote households. GNA
Pandemic benefits in Canada designed to cushion the blow of lockdowns lifted over 300,000 children out of poverty in a single year, the largest 12 month decline in child poverty ever recorded. Benefits also helped narrow income inequality, as lower-income households saw after-tax income grow at a faster rate than that of other groups. NUPGE
Freedom House, which publishes one of the world's most influential reports on global democracy, says 2022 looks like a possible turning point in the global struggle for freedom. The year’s events showed that autocrats are far from infallible, and their errors have provided openings for democratic forces, which have demonstrated 'solidarity and vigour.'
Samantha Power, the current head of USAID, agrees. She thinks that early 2022 was a high-water mark for authoritarianism, pointing out that populism around the world is in decline, democracy has proven stubbornly resilient and autocratic states are appearing increasingly fragile. Foreign Affairs
The only home we've ever known
After two decades of failed negotiations and political deadlock, this is the moment when UN conference president Rena Lee confirmed that nearly 200 countries have reached a landmark deal to protect ocean life, charting a path to conserving international waters. It's the first international agreement on ocean protection since 1982, and a hugely important victory for life on Earth. In Rena's words:
"The ship has reached the shore."
International delegates at the Our Ocean Conference have committed nearly $20 billion to ocean conservation, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors. Panama, this year's host, also announced it will add 93,389 km2 to its Banco Volcán MPA, bringing the country’s total marine protection to over 54%. Mongabay
Conservation efforts have restored 15 million hectares of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest since 2009, leading to the return of hundreds of birds and the reintroduction of the lowland tapir to Rio de Janeiro for the first time in 100 years. The forests, which have endured centuries of deforestation, are one of Brazil’s most important biomes. Mongabay
The demilitarised zone between North and South Korea has found new life as a wildlife sanctuary. 6,200 wildlife species now call it home, including 38% of the Korean peninsula's endangered species, such as golden eagles, musk deer, and mountain goats, in addition to hundreds of endemic plant species. BBC
A new national park in Australia will protect 437,394 hectares of globally significant wetlands, as well as salt lakes and playas. The site, called Thurloo Downs, is located on Karenggapa and Parundji country and is home to 50 threatened species. It's the largest acquisition of private land for a national park in NSW history. Environment NSW
26 Australian species have recovered enough that they no longer require a threatened listing. The populations of 14 mammal, eight bird, two frog, one reptile and one fish species have all improved, including the greater bilby, eastern barred bandicoot, sooty albatross, and Murray cod. Guardian
Sea otters represent one of the great unsung success stories of conservation, with populations of around 25,000 in southeast Alaska and over 125,000 in the Pacific Ocean. It’s been a long time in the making, starting with a protection treaty between Russia, the US, Britain and Japan in 1911, when there were fewer than 1,000 animals left in the wild. BBC
A loss for lawmakers in Texas who wanted to build a border wall is a huge win for Monarch butterflies, following the FDA's designation of the prostrate milkweed plant as an endangered species. The listing of the plant, which provides crucial habitat for the butterflies, will help safeguard their migration when they head north from Mexico each spring. Courthouse News
One of the most endangered cats in the world, the Iberian lynx, is bounding towards recovery thanks to parallel efforts by Spain and Portugal. In 2002, fewer than 200 remained in the wild. Today, around 1,400 roam the Iberian Peninsula. The success of the program has also given conservationists better odds at recovering the black vulture and the Iberian imperial eagle. Biographic
Not strictly good news but we had to include it! Check out the People's Choice Award for this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year: a jaw-dropping photograph of a snow leopard traversing the icy cliffs of the Himalayas. German photographer Sascha Fonseca set up a bait-free camera trap in this location three years ago to secure the winning shot. NHM
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
The UN has taken a significant step towards filling a gap in the fight against climate change: standardized, real-time tracking of greenhouse gases. A new platform will combine the World Meteorological Organization's expertise in weather prediction with climate analysis to provide faster and sharper data on how the planet's atmosphere is changing. VOA
A decade ago, solar was the smallest source of global electricity, at less than 1%. The IEA is now predicting it will surpass hydropower next year. In three years it will overtake fossil gas and in four years it will push past coal to become the world's leading source of electricity. Read it and weep, Vaclav Smil. What's the secret to solar's success? One word: Lego (ok, actually it's modularity).
What's even crazier is that the IEA's forecasts are probably an underestimate. Old school energy analysts still don't seem to understand exponential technologies, as you can see in the latest update to the famous graph from Auke Hoekstra. "The first time I conceived of this visualization in 2010 or so, I expected it to be a temporary anomaly. But reality continues to outpace expectations."
In Britain, coal demand has fallen to its lowest level since 1757, when Mozart was still a baby. UK emissions have fallen by 49% since 1990 and the economy has grown by 75% in that period. Meanwhile, more than 200 GW of renewable capacity are awaiting connection to the grid, several times the country’s current operating capacity. Carbon Brief
Nearly 40% of US electricity was carbon-free in 2022. Coal is dying, gas is king and nuclear is still the single largest source of clean electricity; but wind, solar and batteries are coming fast. In 2023, these three technologies account for 82% of new, utility-scale generating capacity that developers plan to bring online. Brian Bartholemew
The green Industrial Revolution, long derided as a left-wing fantasy, is beginning to depolarize climate and energy in US politics. It's because most of the money catalysed by the IRA (a bill that got precisely zero Republican votes) is going to red states. More than 80% of projects announced since the IRA was passed are in congressional districts held by Republicans. NYT
Rooftop solar is on track to overtake coal as Australia's biggest source of electricity capacity in April this year. More than 3.4 million Australians have solar panels on their roofs, and the country has at least 250 planned battery developments with a potential capacity of almost 120,000 MWh, a pipeline second only to China. Bloomberg
Portugal's largest utility, EDP, says it will step up investment and spend $27 billion over the next four years to nearly double its renewable energy capacity to 33 GW by 2026. More than 90% of the investment will be in onshore wind and solar, with the rest going to offshore wind, batteries and hydrogen. Reuters
Following last year's moratorium on new coal, the Philippines has now awarded 55 offshore wind service contracts totalling over 40GW, almost twice the country's current generation capacity. Needless to say, this a game changer: fossil fuels currently account for around three-quarters of the energy mix. Manila Standard
Citi, the world's second-largest funder of fossil fuels, has issued a new commitment to cut emissions from their lending to the thermal coal mining sector by 90% by 2030. Deutsche Bank has also tightened its policies, saying it will no longer take on new clients that earn more than 30% of revenue from coal, down from 50%.
We're suckers for floating solar. This is the world's largest operational project in Dezhou, China, at 320 MW. Not only does it provide clean energy, it reduces evaporation by up to 70%. It won't hold the title for long. A 600 MW floating PV plant is slated to begin operations in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh later this year. WEF
What about nuclear? Specifically, what about the nuclear industry's great hope, small modular reactors, which can be assembled on site and have a better chance than traditional nuclear reactors of taking advantage of the Lego-like properties of wind and solar as mentioned above? Here's our take:
Hot: creating small modular nuclear reactors for space travel.
Not: creating small modular nuclear reactors for electricity.
Nissan has increased its global 2030 target for sales of electric vehicles to over 55%, up from its forecast of 50% made just 17 months ago. The automaker has also raised its 2026 target for sales of EVs in Europe from 75% to 98%, as it sees the region's passenger vehicle sales going fully electric by that year. Asia Nikkei
Repeat after us: I will not freak out about the metals. I will not freak out about the metals. After months of FUD from the usual suspects about shortages of materials for the energy transition, cobalt is suddenly not a problem anymore, India's found a whole lot of lithium, and Tesla just unveiled plans to bring an electric motor to market that requires no rare earth elements at all.
Repeat after us. I will not freak out over range anxiety. I will not freak out over range anxiety. The first EV with a range of over 300 miles (480 kilometres) was introduced by Tesla in 2015. It took six years until another company offered one in the United States but now suddenly, they are everywhere, with the number of models on offer tripling in the last year. ARK
Indistinguishable from magic
Remember when humanity crashed a satellite into an asteroid last year? Observations have now confirmed the impact shortened its orbit by about 33 minutes - 25 times the minimum benchmark for mission success. That means we now have the ability to create a planetary defence system against Earth-bound asteroids or comets. MIT
Oh, and it's looking increasingly likely that biology has its roots in space.
US scientists say they've achieved room temperature superconductivity, using a material called reddmatter (a Star Trek reference), comprised of hydrogen, nitrogen and the 71st element, lutetium. Their discovery, if confirmed, would be revolutionary. “We could levitate trains above superconducting rails, change the way electricity is stored and transferred, and transform medical imaging." IEEE
Most of the headlines about Chat GPT have been some variation of it's gonna take all the jobs or it's alive! In reality, its biggest impact so far has been on productivity, with two new studies showing an increase of over 55% for programmers and 37% for white collar professionals. For context, adding steam power to a small factory in the 19th century increased productivity by 25%. One Useful Thing
An international research team has used an imaging method that measures the absorption of cosmic rays to map the shape and location of a two-metre wide, nine-metre long secret corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former antiquities minister, has called it "the most important discovery of the 21st century." Ars Technica
The Argonne National Laboratory in the US says it's discovered a way to raise the future driving range of standard EVs to over 1,500 kilometres. Their battery technology uses solid electrolyte lithium-air batteries, and has a high enough density to power trucks, trains, and arguably mid-haul aircraft, long thought to be beyond the reach of electrification.
Two big medical breakthroughs for you this week. British doctors say they've developed a new drug that works against all types of bone cancer, in what could be the field's most important discovery in 45 years. And in the US, a new treatment for stroke called EVT could be one of the most important medical innovations of the past decade, with the potential to save millions of lives and livelihoods.
Forget designer babies. Here's how CRISPR is actually changing lives. There are around 40 studies underway on human volunteers for everything from cancer to HIV and blood diseases. The first beneficiaries are now speaking about their experiences, and treatments for sickle-cell and beta-thalassemia are widely expected to be the first CRISPR therapies to go on sale later this year. MIT
Japanese researchers have built an AI system that reconstructs images a person sees based on their brain activity. It works by taking information from fMRI brain scans, which detect changes in blood flow to active regions of the brain, and combining them with a modified version of Stable Diffusion, plus keywords from the original image. WTAF. Science
The information highway is still super
A really beautiful and moving piece by journalist Anna Tims about the personal impact of working in a hospice. As she sits with patients on their deathbeds, everything she previously took for granted - the school run, the weekly shop, an unexpected soaking in a rainstorm - suddenly seems like a gift. "Instead of anonymous faces of strangers in the street, I saw protagonists of untold stories; the quiet heroism of ordinary life." In time, she comes to understand that while death in the outside world is unmentionable, in the hospice, it unites everyone. In being acknowledged, it becomes dignified. Read it all. It’s worth it. Guardian
A well-balanced look at the philosophy and practice of Montessori education. The central idea is that children should take the lead on learning activities from a young age, and be given more opportunity to find their own solutions to problems and learn from mistakes. A childhood that's liberated, self-directed and free from the tyranny of conventional education. "When you're at school, you're building the architecture of your mind." However, as with all things that are too good to be true, it's difficult to distinguish between the marketing and the reality. "It has become, not by accident, a brand." BBC
A mind-expanding conversation between Noah Smith and Kevin Kelly. Touches on a better way of thinking about growth, the scientific method, radical optimism, global demographics, the short-lived virality of social media and its parallels to biology, entrepreneurship as a system for steering society, the hype and reality of machine-learning, why your 20s are an ideal time to do crazy stuff, and the concept of the technium, "an extension of the same self-organizing system responsible for the evolution of life." At the risk of getting carried away, the word that comes to mind here is prophetic. Noahpinion
Speaking of the technium, check this out from the team at Our World In Data.
Humankind
Against all odds
Meet Ola Abú Al Ghaib, a disability advocate in Palestine who has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of disabled women across the Arab world and empowered them through her own determination to live a full, abundant life.
Ola was born in Nablus and as a young child had big dreams for her life. At the age of 12 she was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine, and an operation left her paralysed from the waist down. Despite the trauma, Ola was hopeful. “This was obviously very shocking, it didn’t change who I was or what I wanted to achieve in life.”
Unfortunately, things did change. Local schools refused her attendance, and Ola was forced to stay at home for the next three years. Determined to fight for her education, she convinced her traditional Arab family to let her attend a private school in Bethlehem. Initially, the school would only enroll Ola as a 'listener' but after earning the highest marks in her class, she became a regular student.
Across every stage of her education, Ola broke the mould: applying for international scholarships to cover expenses, creating community groups with other disabled students and when she reached university, gaining a position on the construction committee to secure her right to an accessible campus.
After graduating with a masters in project management, Ola worked for a leading rehabilitation organisation that provided services to disabled men but after six years decided it was time to address the gap for women. In 2007 she launched Stars of Hope, a female-led organisation in Palestine with a mission to change her society’s perceptions of disabled women, who are often kept hidden.
Stars of Hope is the first organisation in the Arab world to be run by women with disabilities, for women with disabilities. From national advocacy to community-run skills training, the organisation empowers women with access to healthcare, education and hope that they can live big, full lives.
Ola is a trailblazer who has led by example and fought against all odds to fulfil her dreams of having a successful career, driver’s license, marriage, and baby.
“I was born a warrior... a warrior for my rights and the rights of all women with disabilities. I started with empowering myself and I am moving now towards empowering others”.
That's it for this week, apologies for the slightly longer edition, we had a lot of news to catch up on after a week off. Hope you enjoyed it, we'll see you again in seven days.
With love,
Gus and Amy
