I'm 60, I'm ready

The largest dam removal in history is complete
The best thing that happened in the world last week: after years of negotiating—and decades of activism—the Klamath River is free of four huge dams, reopening more than 644 kilometres of free-flowing water. It’s a landmark moment for the Shasta Indian Nation, who are restoring 2,800 acres of their ancestral land that is above ground for the first time in a century. BBC + LA Times 🗄️

The biggest thing for me, the significance of the dam removal project, is just hope — understanding that change can be made.
Brook M. Thompson, Yurok Tribe member

28 million acres of public land in Alaska are now protected
The historic protections—which will safeguard critical habitat for caribou, moose, bears, and all five species of Pacific salmon—are a major victory for local Tribes and businesses. The decision retains the protections that were in place for decades until the Trump Administration proposed changes to public land orders to open the area for mining and oil and gas drilling. NRDC

Farmers across North America are reviving ‘Prairie Potholes’
Prairie Potholes are wetlands that serve as natural sponges to hold excess water. Over the past century, the push for greater productivity led farmers to drain half of these wetlands across the Prairie Pothole Region, which spans 770,000 km² of North America. Now they are being revived due to their rich soils and mineral deposits, benefitting both agriculture yields and wildlife. Reasons to be Cheerful

Landmark victory for environmental democracy in Colombia
The Constitutional Court has unanimously supported the Escazú Agreement, which ensures people have access to environmental information, participation, and justice in environmental matters. It marks a significant step towards protecting the rights and work of environmental defenders in 'the most dangerous place in the world for environmental advocacy.' CIEL

Community engagement drives forest protection in Malawi
In the Zomba Forest Reserve, a community that once destroyed the forest for charcoal has become its custodian. In the late 1990s, a project dubbed Zomba TREEZ taught them how to plant fruit trees and native trees, fight fires, and remove invasive species—and pay for each tree that survived. Now, the community-led side of the reserve is flourishing, while the state-protected section is struggling to curb deforestation. Mongabay

Nearly 25% of European landscape could be rewilded
According to a new study, 117 million hectares across Europe is primed with rewilding opportunities. The researchers focused on areas that covered over 10,000 hectares, had little human disturbance, and were home to vital species. Of the rewilding opportunities, 70% are in colder climates, specifically Northern Europe and several highland regions in the Iberian Peninsula. Phys.org

Record number of breeding puffins in the Gulf of Maine
Seal Island has set a record for breeding puffins, with 672 active puffin burrows counted, about 100 more than the last census five years ago. Measures to restore the island’s populations started in 1992, after a century’s absence due to hunting in the late 1800s. Razorbills, a larger cousin of the puffin, are also doing well, with 101 active burrows recorded. Portland Press Herald

Shipping company changes course to protect whales
A Greek-owned shipping company with 13 tankers will redirect its ships to help protect the sperm whale population in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are fewer that 200 whales in this subpopulation, and they live predominantly in the Hellenic Trench. Half of the cases of stranded whales in the area can be attributed directly to collisions with large ships. IFAW

Debt-for-Nature Swaps inspiring a range of social investment
Since kicking off in the 1980s, there have been 145 debt-for-nature swaps worldwide, making them 'a very tangible strategy that is starting to be proven.' The financial tool enables countries to make climate-adaptation plans that preserve both nature and livelihoods, and the spectrum is broadening, with potential debt-for-health and debt-for-food sovereignty swaps. Carbon Brief 

More music for those who will listen

• 400 hectares of critical koala habitat will be restored across Queensland, Australia, to kick off a $4.48-million project over the next five years.
• Also in Queensland, 54,000 hectares of state forest will become the Greater Glider Forest Park to protect the endangered species.
• In Western Australia, the creation of the 200,000-hectare Purungunya Conservation Park is the first new conservation estate in the Pilbara for over a decade.
• After more than five decades of recovery efforts, the Apache trout is being removed from the US Endangered Species list.
• The profits from the UK’s largest community-owned windfarm will fund the planting of a million native trees in the Hebrides.
• In China, a 'development belt' around Wuyishan National Park is helping nature and local communities flourish.
• The sticky catchfly, one of Scotland’s rarest plants, has more than tripled in population following restoration work, with around 10,000 flowering stems counted.
• A $35m debt-for-nature deal will protect Indonesia’s coral reefs in the Banda Seascape, the Bird’s Head Seascape, and in Lesser Sunda.
• Over the last five years, the Orkney Native Wildlife Project has removed more than 6,000 non-native stoats from the archipelago, boosting wild bird populations.
• A project in the Niger Delta will plant five million mangroves to improve biodiversity and local livelihoods.
• Work is underway to give Utah’s Jordan River a boost.
• Dam removal on the Puyallup River will allow free-flowing water for the first time in more than 100 years, protecting Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout.
• 'Beaver bombing' is on the rise in the UK after rogue conservationists have decided to take matters into their own hands.

Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it

Solar is reshaping the energy landscape
David Wallace-Wells is the latest of the journalists to have their minds blown by solar. Solar power 'was a 10th of its current size 10 years ago... The next tenfold increase will be equivalent to multiplying the world’s entire fleet of nuclear reactors by eight in less than the time it typically takes to build just a single one of them.' NYT

South Korea's top court makes landmark climate ruling
Since 2020, about 200 climate activists have filed petitions to the country's constitutional court, arguing that the government was violating their rights by not doing enough on climate change. The court has now ruled in their favour, asking the legislature to revise the Carbon Neutrality Act by the end of February 2026—the first high court ruling on a government's climate action in Asia. Reuters

The UK is about to become the first G7 country to ditch coal
In July 2014, coal provided 38% of the United Kingdom's electricity. In July 2024, it provided 0.59%, and at the end of this month it will reach 0%. The UK's last remaining coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, is set to close on September 30, 2024, bringing an end to coal-fired power in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Fossil gas is next. Financial Times 🗄️

It’s going to be a momentous occasion,” said John Roberts, a supervisor who joined the plant in Nottinghamshire aged 16. He is among the 170 colleagues employed by plant owner Uniper who will either stick around to help dismantle it, move on to other jobs or, like him, retire. “I’m 60. I’m ready,” he added. 

China hits energy storage target more than a year early
China’s new energy storage capacity, a segment dominated by lithium-ion batteries, jumped to 44 GW at the end of June, a 40% increase from the start of the year. That’s already surpassed the nation’s 2025 target and helped fuel a global boom, with energy storage overtaking electric vehicles last year as the fastest-growing market for batteries. Japan Times

The United States' first all-electric school bus fleet comes online
Swapping out the roughly 500,000 diesel school buses in the United States for electric buses could slash an estimated 7.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. There's a long way to go—as of mid-2024, fewer than 2% of the country's school buses have gone electric; the first district to make the switch completely is in Oakland. 'Today marks the next phase in our evolution.' Canary

Number of countries with coal power in development halves in 10 years
Less than a decade ago, it was impossible to think how Vietnam, Türkiye, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and South Africa, among others, could stop building coal. But they did. Almost all of the world's coal under development is now limited to China and India—the two countries that will decide our collective climate future. Carbon Brief

Putting solar panels on farms almost doubles the efficiency of land use
New research from Ember shows that agri-PV—the combined use of land for food production and solar generation—can bring significant benefits for farmers in Europe. Several years of intensive research have shown that agri-PV can increase fruit and berry yields by up to 16%, and that an annual profit of €1268 per hectare is possible from combined electricity and wheat sales.

World's largest wind turbine switched on in China
On August 28, MySE18.X was successfully hoisted in Hainan, China, with a maximum power of 20 MW, a wind turbine diameter of 260-292 m, and a maximum sweeping area of 66,966 m²—equivalent to the size of 9 football fields. Based on an average wind speed of 8.5 m/s, this single turbine can provide for the annual electricity consumption of 96,000 people in China. Weixin

The global electric vehicle slowdown continues
In the first six months of 2024, every 9th car sold in the world was fully electric—specifically every 4th in China, every 7th in Europe, and every 14.5th in the United States. Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 22% in July 2024 compared to July 2023. Electric vehicles are on track to hit 16.6 million sales this year—a year-on-year rise of about 20%, thanks largely to runaway sales in China.

What's the opposite of doomscrolling?

• The 30th of August was the last day of coal powered electricity in Denmark.
• The Biden Administration is making over 31 million acres of public lands across 11 western states available for solar development.
• Solar generation has skyrocketed nine fold in Portugal in the last five years, pushing renewables to around 90% of its electricity in the first half of 2024.
• In 2024, a small electric SUV with a range of 480 km produces 52% less lifetime greenhouse gas emissions than a comparable gasoline vehicle. 
• Sodium-ion batteries are coming: a total of 50 GWh is expected to come online this year, along with 14 new market entrants, bringing global capacity to 70 GWh.
• Did you know that Germany has higher per capita installations of solar energy than China?
• The US federal government just gave West Coast states $100 million to create a zero-emissions truck charging and fueling network.
• If you're looking for one number that explains the turbulence of the global car industry right now how about this? More than half of BYD's cars sold in China cost less than $21,000.
• Of the 20 largest manufacturing projects announced thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, nearly all are expected to be constructed and completed.
• Have China's crude oil imports peaked? Imports are down in the the world's biggest oil importer in the first seven months of this year.
• How much coal does it take to build a wind turbine? Over 600 times less than all of the coal that turbine saves from being set on fire.

That's it for this edition, we hope you enjoyed it. Go check out that Klamath River video, it's worth it, we promise. We'll see you next week.

With love,

Gus and Amy