What went right this week: the good news that matters

The EU has committed to putting climate education on the school curriculum, a move hailed as a “watershed moment” by climate groups.

Announcing the measure, the EU said that climate literacy was “essential for fostering an informed understanding of the climate crisis, building resilience to disinformation, and creating a sustainability-skilled workforce.”

The campaign group earthday.org, which has long lobbied for climate education, hailed the move.

“Climate education is not just about combating the climate crisis,” said its president Kathleen Rogers. “It’s a critical foundation for training the global workforce, equipping everyone with the green skills needed to thrive in an evolving economy, and empowering businesses to grow sustainably in a rapidly changing world.”

The EU’s commitment to climate literacy was made as nations submitted their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris agreement. It means that 152 countries now have climate education included in their national commitments. 

“Education is a fundamental tool in building climate resilience,” said earthday.org’s Max Falcone. “Just as literacy paved the way for the first Industrial Revolution, climate education will ignite the next revolution, one that addresses the climate crisis.”

Image: Kenny Eliason

It has been present in the country for 3,000 years, but this week trachoma – the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness – was consigned to Egypt’s history.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization confirmed that Egypt had eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. The disease is spread via fingers or flies that have come into contact with the eyes of an infected person. 

Egypt’s success in defeating the disease follows improvements in water sanitation, increased monitoring and community awareness programmes.

“This achievement is a collective triumph for Egypt’s health workers, communities, and partners who collaborated to eradicate this ancient disease,” said Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt’s health minister. 

Image: Alex Azabache

California, home to many a data-hungry tech behemoth, has approved a new law to give citizens more agency over their online data. 

The California Opt Me Out Act obliges developers of web browsers to give users an easy, clearly signposted ‘opt-out‘ option, which will tell websites not to share or sell their personal information as they browse.

Campaign group Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) has long advocated for such rights. It said that the “groundbreaking” new law is “ a significant step forward” in data privacy, and “ continued California’s role as a national leader in consumer data privacy”.  

The law, due to come into effect in 2027, builds on existing legislation that was largely unworkable – and onerous for web users. 

“Instead of visiting individual websites to opt out of data sales and sharing, consumers will be able to set their preference once in their browser settings,” said PRC. “Looking ahead, we hope to see this model extended to other internet-connected devices, vehicles, and beyond.” 

The new legislation provides a blueprint for other states and nations to follow, it added, meaning its impact will likely be felt beyond California’s borders. 

Read more: Five ways to shrink your digital footprint

Image: Brooke Cagle

The US supreme court has rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision to legalise same-sex marriage. 

On Monday, justices turned away an appeal by Kim Davis, a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, to overturn the 2015 ruling. Davis was sued by a gay couple after refusing to issue marriage licenses. 

“Today, love won,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone – including LGBTQ+ people. 

“The supreme court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences.”

Monday’s decision comes three years after the conservative-majority supreme court sparked global outrage by reversing abortion rights.

Image: Bárbara Marques

While scientists warned this week that the world is off target when it comes to reducing emissions, there was one bright spot: the renewables rollout. 

According to a report by the energy think tank Ember, nations are on course to meet the target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, as agreed at the Cop28 climate summit. 

“To achieve the global tripling target, renewable capacity additions needed to rise by 21% every year from 2023 to 2030,” the report noted. “So far, they are outperforming that pace, averaging 29% annually from 2023 to 2025.”

Still, Ember warned against complacency, especially given the rising demand for energy use. 

Ember’s report came as the Global Carbon Project warned that emissions were set to rise to historic levels in 2025. Climate Action Tracker, an independent science project, said that current policies put the world on course for 2.6C of warming by 2100 – a major breach of the 1.5C limit nations committed to under the Paris agreement.  

Image: Karsten Würth

A fund set up to compensate countries for preserving their tropical forests has chalked up an early win after Norway committed $3bn (£2.3bn) to the cause. 

The Tropical Forests Forever Facility was launched by the Brazilian government last week as it prepared to host the Cop30 climate conference. It committed $1bn (£760m) to the fund, a figure matched by Indonesia. Norway has now committed $3bn. 

Brazil is seeking an initial $25bn (£19bn) from national governments and foundations, and a further $100bn (£76bn) from investors. Money will be invested in stock and bond markets, with returns going to countries that protect their forests, minus a percentage paid to investors. It’s a structure that has drawn some criticism, chiefly for being too focused on lining the pockets of investors. But others see potential.  

“I believe the design of the programme has real promise,” Jason Gray, an environmental law scholar, wrote for The Conversation. [It’s] an example of the type of innovative mechanism that could accelerate action globally. But to truly succeed, it will need to be coordinated with state and provincial governments, communities and others doing the work on the ground.” 

Image: Mohammed Ahmed

Campaigners have welcomed the UK government’s plan to phase out animal testing, describing it as a “significant step forward” for science and animal welfare. 

The plan includes phasing out animal testing for some safety tests by the end of 2025. It also sets a target of reducing by 35% the use of dogs and primates in medicine tests by 2030.

To do this, the government advocates the rollout of new technologies that can advance science without causing harm to animals. They include organ-on-a-chip devices, which mimic human organs, allowing scientists to study physiological processes and test drugs.

“Huge momentum has been building in recent years, driven by the emergence and pace of development of exciting new non-animal technologies,” said Barney Reed, senior science and policy manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“Every day, we are seeing more breakthroughs with technologies like organs-on-chips, organoids, and computer modelling. These can enable better science to be done, without using and harming animals.” 

Image: Wu Yi

Scientists have got their teeth into a novel material that they say could “revolutionise tooth repair”. 

Currently, there is no way to regrow enamel, the protective layer of a tooth that keeps decay at bay. But that could be about to change after scientists in the UK developed a gel that was shown to repair enamel. 

The protein-based gel contains a modified version of a protein that acts like amelogenin, which encourages the growth of our enamel in infants.  

“We tested the mechanical properties of these regenerated tissues under conditions simulating ‘real-life situations’ such as tooth brushing, chewing, and exposure to acidic foods, and found that the regenerated enamel behaves just like healthy enamel,” said lead researcher Dr Abshar Hasan, from the University of Nottingham. 

His team’s research was published in the journal Nature Communication this week.

“This innovation could soon be helping patients worldwide,” said Alvaro Mata, a professor in biomedical engineering at the university. “We hope to have a first product out next year.” 

Image: nrd

A weeklong meditative retreat can boost resilience, pain relief and stress recovery, a US study has shown. 

Researchers at the University of California San Diego, US, observed 20 adults who took part in a retreat combining techniques, such as meditation. The retreat, they said, produced “rapid and wide-ranging changes” in brain function and blood biology, engaging physiological pathways that promote metabolism, immunity and pain relief. 

“We’ve known for years that practices like meditation can influence health, but what’s striking is that combining multiple mind-body practices into a single retreat produced changes across so many biological systems that we could measure directly in the brain and blood,” said study author Hemal Patel, a professor at the university. 

“This isn’t about just stress relief or relaxation; this is about fundamentally changing how the brain engages with reality and quantifying these changes biologically.”

The findings, said researchers, suggest that intensive meditation triggers similar brain activity to psychedelics. However, they cautioned that further research is needed. 

Image: Mor Shani

Following the news that regular gallery visits have been linked with lower stress levels and better wellbeing, Positive News asked readers to share the works of art that changed their lives. 

From seminal songs to titans of literature, suggestions came flooding in.

Here are the works that set you on a different path. 

Image: Chelms Varthoumlien
Main image: iStock