What went right this week: the good news that matters

China’s embrace of renewables has tipped its emissions into reverse, with some experts predicting the country’s CO2 output could be entering a period of structural decline.

According to analysis by Carbon Brief, a climate reporting website, China’s emissions have fallen by 1% over the last 12 months. It’s a trend that appears to be accelerating: analysts observed a steeper 1.6% year-on-year decline in the first quarter of 2025, driven by a 5.8% fall in power sector emissions. 

It’s the first time that renewables have caused China’s emissions to shrink – previous declines were due to weak growth or Covid lockdowns. Last year, the country – currently the planet’s biggest polluter – brought more green energy projects online than the rest of the world combined. 

Carbon Brief expects power sector emissions to continue shrinking in 2025. “The outlook beyond that depends strongly on the clean energy and emissions targets set in China’s next five-year plan – due to be published next year – as well as the economic policy response to the Trump administration’s hostile trade policy,” it cautioned.

Globally, emissions need to fall by 45% by 2030 as per the Paris agreement. Last year, they rose to record levels.

Image: Edward He

Despite attempts by the Trump administration to stymie green energy projects, wind and solar are surging across the US. 

New data shows that renewables accounted for 98% of the country’s new electricity capacity in the first quarter of 2025. 

“Notwithstanding the Trump administration’s anti-renewable energy efforts during its first 100 plus days, the strong growth of solar and wind continues,” said Ken Bossong, an analyst at the Sun Day Campaign, which promotes solar energy. “[The] latest data and forecasts suggest this will not change in the near-term.” 

Trump could in fact unwittingly be helping renewables. According to the Financial Times, the cost of building gas-fired plants in the US has tripled over the last three years, with Trump’s tariffs expected to drive up costs even further.  

Image: Mariana Proenca

A new treatment approach could significantly boost survival rates for women with aggressive, inherited breast cancers, scientists said this week. 

In a study run by England’s University of Cambridge, patients with early-stage inherited breast cancer were treated with chemotherapy followed by the targeted drug olaparib before surgery. Of the 39 women who were treated this way, all survived the critical three-year period post-surgery.

The discovery could become the most effective treatment to date for patients with early-stage breast cancer linked to inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, the university said. Larger scale trials are planned.  

“It is rare to have a 100% survival rate in a study like this and for these aggressive types of cancer,” said trial lead Prof Jean Abraham. “We’re incredibly excited about the potential of this new approach.”

Image: National Cancer Institute

Step aside Amsterdam, Europe has a new cycling capital. 

In a remarkable turn of events, Paris – once infamous for its maddening traffic – has raced ahead in a European ranking of cycle-friendly cities for children. Amsterdam and Antwerp came second and third respectively.    

It follows a concerted effort to reclaim the realm from motor vehicles in the French capital, where parking spaces and roads have given way to hundreds of miles of bike lanes under mayor Anne Higaldo. 

The ranking was compiled by the Clean Cities Campaign (CCC), a nonprofit which analysed stats on segregated cycle lanes, road speeds and ‘school streets’, where traffic is limited. It noted that Paris now has a protected cycling network that’s nearly half (48%) as long as its road network. 

“Taking a walk through Paris today is a breath of fresh air compared to 10 years ago,” said Barbara Stoll, CCC’s senior director. “It takes vision, leadership and sustained investment, but most cities can and should make similar progress.”

Image: Surprising Media

A new art museum devoted to migration opened this week in Rotterdam, near the dock where Albert Einstein fled Europe to start a new life in the US. 

The Fenix museum is the centrepiece of a regeneration project in the harbour-side neighbourhood Katendrecht, formerly home to Rotterdam’s red-light district and Europe’s largest China town. Its opening comes at a time of hardening rhetoric against immigration in Europe. 

“It’s not for us to tell people how they should feel about migration,” the museum’s Esmee Köhler told Positive News during a preview visit last year. “We just want to enrich the view that people have about migration.” 

Fenix – designed by Chinese architect Ma Yansong – opened with three exhibitions, including Suitcase Labyrinth, a collection of 2,000 suitcases that tell personal stories of people from around the world. 

As well as exhibitions, the museum has a vast indoor city square, or ‘Plein’, on the ground floor. It will serve as a space for connection and will play host to cultural events curated by Rotterdam’s myriad communities throughout the year. “We want everyone to feel welcome,” said the museum’s director, Anna Kremers. 

Image: Fenix/Mounir Raji

Ecologists are celebrating after a court ruled that the UK’s ban on trawling for sandeels in British waters is legal.  

Sandeels are a vital food source for seabirds, including puffins (pictured), but are declining due to overfishing. The UK banned trawlers from fishing for them in British waters after Brexit, a move described as “discriminatory” by the EU, which took the UK to court over fears that the ban would undermine Denmark’s sandeel fishing industry. 

However, the arbitration tribunal ruled in the UK’s favour, claiming the ban was based on science. Greenpeace was among those welcoming the verdict.

“The sandeel fishing ban is one of the few significant strides that have been made towards protecting and restoring the UK’s marine ecosystem since we left the EU,” said Chris Thorne, senior oceans campaigner at the charity. “The UK was right to bring the ban in and it’s very positive that the tribunal recognised the ecological case for this.” 

Image: Charles J Sharp

One in four cars sold globally this year will be electric, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast this week, as data showed another record month for EV sales. 

“Despite recent economic headwinds … global sales of electric cars have continued to break records as electric models become increasingly affordable,” said the IEA. “In the first three months of 2025, electric car sales were up 35% year-on-year. All major markets, and many others, saw new records for first-quarter sales.” 

Decarbonising transport is vital in the race to reduce emissions. But while electric vehicles are part of the solution, they have their own environmental issues – notably that the minerals needed to build them lie under ecologically sensitive sites. The best way to travel greenly, campaigners say, is to walk, cycle or take the train. 

Image: Eren Goldman

What gets measured, gets managed – or so the saying goes. Ecologists hope that will be true of England’s peatlands, which have been mapped for the first time. 

Using satellite imagery, data analysis and artificial intelligence, scientists have created the most detailed map to date of England’s carbon-sequestering and biodiversity-rich peatlands. 

The findings are not exactly good news – 80% were deemed to be dry and degraded – but conservationists said that the open-source data provides a unique opportunity to boost and monitor the health of the peatlands going forwards. 

“This new peat map marks a step change in our ability to make national, regional, and local scale plans for England’s peatlands,” said Dr Ruth Waters of Natural England. “It will be a key resource for government, for conservation organisations, and for anyone else working on the large-scale restoration of peatlands.” 

Image: Neil Theasby

A vast new nature reserve has been created in northern England, encompassing the landscapes that inspired the Brontë sisters’ writing. 

The reserve spans 1,274 hectares – equivalent to around 1,570 football pitches – and links together eight nature sites around the city of Bradford. Approximately 90% of the area comprises so-called “priority habitats” for conservation, including peat bogs, heathlands, and wetlands. 

The Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve aims to link up existing fragmented habitats and improve access to the countryside. 

“Reversing the historic declines in nature and moving toward ecological recovery requires bigger, better and more joined up areas for nature to thrive,” said Natural England’s chair Tony Juniper. “The opening of this reserve is an important moment in this journey, marking a significant achievement in our efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment.” 

Image: Gary Butterfield

The Palestinian author and journalist Yasmin Zaher (pictured) has won the world’s largest literary prize for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – for her debut novel, The Coin.

Exploring themes of class, injustice and statelessness, the book draws on Zaher’s personal experience as a Palestinian to dissect identity, civilisation and nature.

“The Coin is a borderless novel, tackling trauma and grief with bold and poetic moments of quirkiness and humour,” said judge Namita Gokhale. “It fizzes with electric energy.” 

Also honoured with a top literary award this week was Nigerian writer Abi Daré, who won the inaugural Climate fiction prize for her novel And So I Roar. The book delves into the lives of women in rural Nigeria, confronting environmental collapse, gender inequality and hope. 

“As a Black British-Nigerian woman, receiving this prize is a reminder that we do not need to wait for permission to step into global conversations,” said Daré.

Image: Willy Somma
Main image: Tai Chi in Shanghai, China. Credit: Nikada