Dec 19, 2024 (fixthenews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We report good news. Join 55,000 people who receive our weekly newsletter.Subscribe<\/p>\n\n\n\n No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalism as I see it is riding the train of history, looking out the window and telling people what I see, and as best I can, describing where it is heading. The shifting tectonic plates of history are invisible but transformative.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Richard Engel <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Global Health<\/a>Conservation<\/a>Living Standards<\/a>Energy<\/a>Human Rights<\/a>Science & Technology<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Delegates at the UNAIDS 2024 conference give a standing ovation after Prof Linda-Gail Bekker presents the results of a trial of a new HIV prevention drug that provided 100% efficacy. Credit: AVAC<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n While this year’s biggest ‘health’ stories were about CEO assassinations, vaccine skepticism and scary viral outbreaks, history was being made in the background. Multiple countries declared victory over age-old afflictions like malaria, leprosy and trachoma, the global campaign against cervical cancer reached a turning point, with widespread HPV vaccination putting humanity on track to eliminate a cancer for the first time, and in places like Gaza and Sudan, health workers achieved the near-impossible, vaccinating millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientific breakthroughs, from personalised mRNA vaccines to GLP-1 therapies, offered new hope for billions suffering from previously intractable conditions, and we saw world-first treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes and lupus. Most importantly, healthcare increasingly reached those who need it most, with expanded access to vaccines, treatments, and coverage for people in low and middle income countries. From South Asia’s dramatic reduction in child mortality to Africa’s unexpected progress on tuberculosis, this year demonstrated that sustained political commitment can change the trajectories of entire nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In what Science<\/em> called the ‘breakthrough of the year<\/a>‘, researchers revealed in June that a twice-yearly drug called lenacapavir<\/em> reduced HIV infections in a trial in Africa to zero\u2014an astonishing 100% efficacy, and the closest thing to a vaccine in four decades of research. Things moved quick; by October, the maker of the drug, Gilead, had agreed to produce an affordable version<\/a> for 120 resource-limited countries, and by December trials were underway for a version that could prevent infection with just a single shot<\/a> per year. ‘I got cold shivers. After all our years of sadness, particularly over vaccines, this truly is surreal.’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jordan<\/a> became the first country to eliminate leprosy, Chad<\/a> eliminated sleeping sickness, Guinea<\/a> eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus, Belize, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines<\/a> eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, India achieved the WHO target for eliminating black fever, India<\/a>, Viet Nam<\/a> and Pakistan<\/a> eliminated trachoma, the world\u2019s leading infectious cause of blindness, and Brazil<\/a> and Timor Leste<\/a> eliminated elephantiasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0:00<\/p>\n\n\n\n \/1:201\u00d7<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firas Al-Hawari<\/a>, Jordan\u2019s Minister of Health and Dr Jamela Al-Raiby, the WHO Representative to Jordan celebrate the elimination of leprosy. Credit: <\/em>WHO<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s still early days but GLP-1 therapies like Ozempic and Wegovy look set to become some of the most successful medicines in history<\/a>. Experts believe they may have already helped drive down<\/a> the adult obesity rate in the United States, and they\u2019re treating heart and kidney disease, being tested for Alzheimer\u2019s, addiction and more. One study tracking 17,000+ patients found they died at a lower rate from all causes<\/em>. Obesity affects over one billion people globally: the potential to transform lives is off the scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Global tuberculosis deaths reached their lowest level<\/a> ever recorded, with Africa<\/a> recording the greatest progress among all regions – a 42% reduction in deaths and a 24% decrease in infection rates since 2015. Cambodia<\/a> estimated it’s saved 400,000 lives from tuberculosis in this century, and Ethiopia<\/a> announced a sixfold drop in infections since the 1980s, a remarkable turnaround for a country that once had the world\u2019s highest infection rate. Also this year, the WHO recommended three new oral regimens<\/a> for multidrug-resistant TB – allowing patients to be cured in nine months compared to the current, conventional 18-month regimen, which includes daily painful injections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The WHO certified Egypt<\/a>, home to 100 million people, as malaria-free, Cabo Verde<\/a> became the first sub-Saharan African country in 50 years to achieve malaria-free status, the Philippines<\/a> eliminated malaria everywhere except for a last foothold in the mountains, and Bangladesh<\/a>, Ghana<\/a>, and Lao PDR<\/a> reported 90% reductions in malaria mortality in the last two decades. Most importantly, 17 African countries began their rollouts of the malaria vaccine this year, including Nigeria, which has the world’s largest burden of the disease, and in December the WHO reported<\/a> that the global malaria death rate is falling again after the setbacks of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, Gavi outlined new plans<\/a> to protect half a billion children in the next five years, began funding preventive Ebola vaccinations<\/a> and started accepting applications for rabies vaccines<\/a>. The WHO approved a new dengue vaccine<\/a>, Nigeria became the first country in the world to roll out a ‘revolutionary’ new meningitis vaccine<\/a>, and world leaders pledged $1.1 billion to boost African vaccine production<\/a>. We also got some big picture numbers: childhood vaccines in the United States<\/a> have saved $540 billion in healthcare costs in the last three decades, and prevented 1.1 million deaths (paging RFK Jr.), and at the global level<\/a>, since the 1970s, immunisation efforts have saved <\/em>approximately 154 million lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fulfilling a key election promise, in September 2024 the Indian government expanded its national medical insurance scheme<\/a> to provide citizens aged 70 and above with annual coverage of around $6,000 per family. India already provides free health services to 500 million low-income people, and the new plan is expected to benefit an additional 60 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year we learned about one of the greatest human progress stories<\/a> of all time: between 1990 and 2022, the number of young children in South Asia dying each year fell from five million to 1.3 million. In these nine countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) the probability that a child will die before the age of five has fallen by 62% since 2000. Those are staggering numbers, and well worth remembering the next time anyone insists the world was a better place a generation ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The global effort to eliminate cervical cancer got a huge boost<\/a> in March 2024 when international donors pledged nearly $600 million towards expanding access to vaccination, screening, and treatment worldwide. 142 countries now include the HPV vaccine in their immunisation schedule, and this year Nigeria<\/a> and Bangladesh<\/a> concluded the world’s two largest rollouts of that vaccine, reaching almost 20 million girls between them. “For the first time, the elimination of a cancer is within our reach<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada<\/a>, and new research showed that the mortality rate has fallen by around 12% in the last ten years. In the United States<\/a>, the mortality rate has fallen by around a third in the last three decades, saving an estimated 4.1 million lives, fewer middle-aged people are dying from cancer in the United Kingdom<\/a> than at any other point in the last 25 years, and in Europe<\/a> mortality rates declined by an estimated 6.5% among men and 4.3% among women between 2018 and 2024, thanks to advances in treatment, technological innovations, and lower smoking rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first cancer therapy<\/a> that uses immune cells from a person\u2019s own tumour became clinically available, the world\u2019s first personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma<\/a> was found to halve the risk of patients dying, and trials of a groundbreaking mRNA vaccine for lung cancer<\/a> launched in seven countries. There was more good news on lung cancer (which kills 1.8 million people a year), with a new drug<\/a> called lorlatinib<\/em>, showing ‘unprecedented results’ in trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 150 countries are reducing tobacco use<\/a>, and there are 19 million fewer smokers than there were just two years ago. Smoking is falling particularly fast in Africa<\/a>, which is on track for a 30% reduction by 2025 compared with 2010. Also, this year Indonesia<\/a> raised its smoking age to 21, and the United Kingdom<\/a> moved forward with plans to become the world\u2019s first ‘smoke-free’ country. Meanwhile Brazil<\/a> became the largest country to decriminalise marijuana, Germany<\/a> became the ninth country to legalise its recreational use, and Ukraine<\/a> and Malawi<\/a> legalised it for industrial and medicinal uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An international team of researchers announced a discovery that could lead to a treatment for hepatitis B<\/a> (a disease that infects more than 250 million people worldwide), a woman with type 1 diabetes<\/a> became the first person to have the disease reversed using cells extracted from her own body, and doctors announced a groundbreaking new treatment for lupus<\/a>, and researchers celebrated the first new treatment for asthma attacks<\/a> in 50 years. Other breakthroughs include a biodegradable contraceptive implant<\/a> and an experimental malaria vaccine<\/a> offering long-term protection for pregnant women for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In August 2024, a baby contracted Gaza\u2019s first case of polio in 25 years. Humanitarian organisations snapped into action to prevent the spread of the disease, and what followed was nothing short of a miracle<\/a>. Working rapidly during nine-hour humanitarian pauses, health workers provided polio vaccines to more than half a million children in September and October, and then followed that up with a second campaign<\/a> to reach the same children again in November. Nine in every ten children in Gaza were vaccinated, thanks to the \u2018tremendous dedication, engagement and courage of parents, children, communities and health workers\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelp forests in the newly created Chumash National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California, America’s third largest marine sanctuary and the first to be nominated by First Nations. Credit: Jon Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nature delivered a masterclass in resilience this year, helped along by some important legal victories. The European Union passed one of the world’s most ambitious nature laws, in the United States the Klamath River flowed freely for the first time in a century, and around the world numerous species were brought back from the brink. These weren’t isolated examples – from plummeting deforestation rates in the Amazon to the quiet revival of whale populations, we saw encouraging progress on many fronts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indigenous communities across the Americas won historic rights to protect their ancestral lands, massive new protected areas were created in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans, and many countries cut down on plastic. Perhaps most remarkably, nature found ways to thrive in unexpected places – from spontaneous forest regeneration in Ukraine’s disaster zones to the world’s largest desert greening project in China – proof of our living world’s remarkable ability to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When countries pass environmental legislation, it\u2019s big news; when an entire continent mandates the protection of nature, it signals a profound shift. Under the new law, which passed on a knife-edge vote<\/a> in June 2024, all 27 member states are legally required to restore at least 20% of land and sea by 2030, and degraded ecosystems by 2050. This is one of the world\u2019s most ambitious pieces of legislation<\/a> and it didn\u2019t come easy; but the payoff will be huge – from tackling biodiversity loss and climate change to enhancing food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brazil\u2019s space agency, INPE, confirmed<\/a> a second consecutive year of declining deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. That means deforestation rates have roughly halved under Lula, and are now approaching all time lows. In Colombia<\/a>, deforestation dropped by 36%, hitting a 23-year low. Bolivia<\/a> created four new protected areas, a huge new new state park was created in Par\u00e1<\/a> to protect some of the oldest and tallest tree species in the tropical Americas and a new study revealed that more of the Amazon is protected than we originally thought, with 62.4% of the rainforest now under some form of conservation management<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Brazil, the Munduruku reclaimed land rights<\/a> to their Sawr\u00e9 Muybu territory, covering 1781 km2 <\/sup>and in Colombia, four Indigenous reserves<\/a> were expanded by a combined total of 1,693 km\u00b2. Next year, the Siekopai people of Ecuador will return to their ancestral home<\/a> for the first time in 80 years, after a legal victory that will permanently protect over 20,000 km2<\/sup> of rainforest in Ecuador and dismantle legal and political barriers to gaining title for an estimated 161,000 km2<\/sup> of ancestral Indigenous territory in Peru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of the largest Indigenous-led conservation efforts in the world, 22 First Nations governments in Canada<\/a> signed a ten year, $375 million funding agreement to establish new protected and conservation areas. The African Union ordered <\/strong>the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> to hand back parts of the giant Kahuzi-Bi\u00e9ga National Park to the Batwa people, and in the United States<\/a> 31,000 acres was returned to the Penobscot tribe in Maine, the largest land transfer without restrictions in the country’s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story of the Klamath River might just be our favourite things that happened this year. After decades of activism by the Karuk and Yurok tribes, the river was finally freed<\/a> of four huge dams, ahead of schedule and on budget. More than 644 kilometres of water reopened, and within one month of completion hundreds of salmon had returned to the river to spawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the US West Coast, conservationists for the world’s largest dam-removal project are celebrating initial successes. Credit: <\/em>Voice of America<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, the Gitdisdzu Lugyeks marine protected area off the west coast of Canada<\/a> became the world\u2019s first Indigenous-led \u2018blue park,’ the massive Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in California became the first tribally nominated marine conservation area in the United States<\/a>, the Inuvialuit signed an agreement to safeguard almost 8,500 km2<\/sup> of the Yukon\u2019s<\/a> northeast coast, and a new Inuit marine conservation area off the east coast of Canada<\/a> will protect a vital transition zone between Arctic and Atlantic ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Countries are still not moving fast enough to reach the global target of protecting 30% of their national waters by 2030, but there were some big conservation wins in China<\/a>, Australia<\/a>, the United Kingdom<\/a> and the Azores<\/a>, which created the largest marine protected area in Europe. Spain<\/a> and Israel<\/a> announced their first national marine parks, Ireland<\/a>, Puerto Rico<\/a> and Peru<\/a> managed to safeguard some real diversity hotspots and thanks to the collaboration of six countries, over 10,000 km2 <\/sup>of ‘refugia’ have now been established in the South China Sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eleven new biospheres<\/a> were added to a global list, Mongolia<\/a> safeguarded 144,000 km2 <\/sup>of land and waters including the planet\u2019s last intact temperate grassland, in Alaska<\/a> <\/strong>113,000 km2 <\/sup>of public land were protected from mining, <\/strong>and a new 16,187 km2 <\/sup>conservation area was established in the Florida Everglades<\/a>. Spain<\/a> saved one of Europe\u2019s most important wetlands, Mexico<\/a> announced 20 new protected areas covering 23,000 km2<\/sup>, Canada<\/a> protected nearly 2,000 km2 <\/sup>of endangered caribou habitat, a group of environmentalists in Chile<\/a> saved 1,315 km2 <\/sup>of the most ecologically significant territory in South America, Bhutan<\/a> expanded its network of protected areas with a new biological corridor, and in the Republic of the Congo<\/a> the Nouabal\u00e9-Ndoki National Park became the world\u2019s first Key Biodiversity Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year we counted the establishment of eight new national parks, including the conversion of two former cattle stations; ‘Vergemont’<\/a> in Queensland, which contains more than 34 ecosystems and ‘Comeroo’<\/a> in New South Wales that is home to 14 threatened species. The Mirarr traditional owners won their decades-long fight to end mining on the controversial Jabiluka site<\/a>, which will now be absorbed into Kakadu National Park, and an eradication program on Lord Howe<\/a> Island saw the recoveries of more than 30 species of threatened flora and fauna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Efforts to crack down on illegal and unregulated fishing paid off with the number of fish on the US overfishing list<\/a> hitting an all-time low, and fishing mortality rates in the Mediterranean and Black Seas<\/a> also hitting their lowest levels on record. In the ocean waters off Southern California<\/a> nearly all species have achieved full recovery, thanks to a 20 year fishing moratorium, Canada and Alaska agreed to a seven-year moratorium<\/a> on fishing in the Yukon River, and thanks to global coordination, Pacific bluefin tuna<\/a> rebounded a decade ahead of schedule, Southern bluefin tuna<\/a> was delisted as a threatened species, and the Atlantic hake<\/a>, which was on the brink of collapse twenty years ago, saw a remarkable recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to its groundbreaking moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, it looks like the International Whaling Commission may have put itself out of a job<\/a>. There was an upswing in humpback<\/a> populations in Icelandic waters and in the South Atlantic Ocean their numbers recovered to pre-whaling <\/a>levels. Scientists confirmed the comeback of fin whales<\/a> in the Scotia Sea; blue whales<\/a> were spotted in the Seychelles for the first time in decades; and the numbers of Antarctic blue whales<\/a> also increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mersey River<\/a>, dubbed the ‘greatest river recovery in Europe,’ continued to thrive with 45 different kinds of fish recorded, triple the amount from 2002; fish stocks in the Yangtze River<\/a> increased by 25.6% thanks to a ten-year fishing ban; the Dominican Republic has regreened one fifth of the country<\/em> thanks to its Yaque River<\/a> restoration project, and the restoration of Seoul’s Han River<\/a> saw wildlife return and millions of trees planted. Sustainable projects offered new hope for the Mekong River<\/a>, China protected its largest saltwater lake<\/a>; 50 companies joined forces to clean up the Motagua River<\/a> in Guatemala; Ecuador started cleaning its rivers<\/a> with conveyor belts; and <\/strong>conservationists in Bali, Indonesia installed 268 rubbish barriers along its rivers<\/a> and initiated more than 1,000 weekly cleanups with volunteers, collecting over 1.7 million kilograms of waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Klamath wasn\u2019t the only American river to get attention this year. New Mexico<\/a> voted to safeguard over 400 km of rivers and streams; $92 million was invested into aquatic ecosystems<\/a> in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; a further $700 million was poured into projects across the Lower Colorado River Basin<\/a>, South Carolina secured $50 million to protect 250 km2<\/sup> of the Pee Dee River<\/a> basin, and the restoration of Bear River<\/a> kicked off. The Maple River<\/a> in Michigan became the first in the country to return to a free-flowing state, and recovery efforts on three of America\u2019s most polluted waterways, the Willamette<\/a>, Anacostia<\/a> and Cuyahoga<\/a> rivers, started to see results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the wake of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam disaster last year, experts predicted the bottom of the reservoir would turn into a desert. The opposite happened. The Dnieper River<\/a> resumed its original flow patterns, sturgeons returned to old spawning grounds, and about 40% of the land is now covered with four metre high forests of willow that were native to the area before the reservoir was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colombia declared the constitutionality of the Escaz\u00fa Agreement<\/a> to protect environmental defenders in ‘the most dangerous place in the world for environmental advocacy,\u2019 Papua New Guinea<\/a> and Islamabad<\/a> passed new legislation to protect biodiversity, the EU cracked down on greenwashing<\/a> and environmental crime<\/a> and the \u2018Rights of Nature\u2019 movement continued to redefine the relationship between people and planet, with personhood granted to waves in Linhares<\/a>, and the Mara\u00f1\u00f3n River<\/a> in Peru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Svalbard Global Seed Vault is humanity’s most important backup site for seeds and this year it banked more than 30,000 new samples<\/a> from 23 depositors across 21 countries, including seven international gene banks. The deposit includes vegetables, legumes, and herbs from Palestine; pearl millet, sorghum, and groundnuts from India; a huge rice sample from the Philippines; and the first-ever seeds from Bolivia and Chad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nigeria banned single-use plastics<\/a>, the European Union continued its crackdown on microplastics<\/a> and agreed on a new law to cut down packaging waste<\/a> for fruit and vegetables. The United Kingdom’s price hike on single-use plastic bags<\/a> resulted in an 86% decrease, California passed a landmark plastic reduction law<\/a> and retail giant Amazon finally made good on its promise to replace the plastic air pillows inside its packages with paper-based padding<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildlife crossings are incredibly effective<\/a> and this year they multiplied across the United States: Washington State<\/a> added 16 to its network, Colorado<\/a> recorded a 90% reduction in wildlife-involved crashes thanks to its 40 underpasses and three overpasses, and construction began on the world\u2019s largest wildlife bridge in California<\/a> that will reconnect the Santa Monica Mountains with the Simi Hills, giving threatened mountain lions, bobcats and mule deer safe passage over a 10-lane freeway, and vastly extending wildlife habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scotland<\/a> committed to recover 30% of its land and seas in a bid to become the world\u2019s first \u2018rewilding nation\u2019; a crowdfunding campaign in Wales<\/a> raised enough to kickstart the largest restoration project in the country; across the United Kingdom 20 new nature projects<\/a> received funding to restore critical habitats; the largest restoration project in the Mediterranean<\/a> reported the regeneration of around 20,000 km2<\/sup> of degraded forests; Bulgaria’s re-wilding of the Rhodope Mountains saw the remarkable comeback of many species; conservation efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo\u2019s<\/a> ‘triangle of death’ brought elephant and zebra populations back from the brink; and Nepal\u2019s<\/a> pioneering Terai Arc Landscape initiative was recognised as one of the best examples<\/a> of ecosystem restoration in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Democratic Republic of the Congo <\/a>achieved 90% of its target of one billion trees, with almost 895 million trees planted across 22 provinces, in Kenya<\/a> a tree planting app mobilised locals to plant 241 million trees, Sri Lanka<\/a> approved a plan to increase forest cover to 32% by 2032, the Philippines<\/a> passed laws requiring parents to plant two trees for every child and students to plant two trees when they graduate. And just to show that every tree counts, here’s the best green shoots story<\/a> we found this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For decades China has been planting its own Great Green Wall round the shifting sands of the Taklamakan, a desert in its north-western region. The desert\u2019s edge is 3,000km long and over a kilometre wide in places, and in November this year, the final section of trees was planted ‘locking the desert shut.’ It’s the completion of the first phase of the largest ecological restoration project<\/a> on the planet, 46 years in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2024 signalled the end of some of the world\u2019s cruellest and most enduring practices. Romania became the 22nd<\/sup> European country to ban fur-farming<\/a>, Columbia ended bullfighting<\/a>, Chile became the 3rd South American country to abolish cosmetic testing<\/a> on animals and 11 states in America have now banned the practice of caging<\/a> hens. South Korea made dog meat<\/a> illegal while efforts to ban the trade of dog and cat meat<\/a> ramped up in Viet Nam, Indonesia, India and China. South Africa made the historic decision to phase out the captive breeding<\/a> of lions and rhinos and Belgium banned the import of hunting trophies<\/a> from endangered species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Przewalski\u2019s<\/a> horses returned to central Kazakhstan after a 200-year absence, dozens of southern white rhinos<\/a> were reintroduced to the wilds of South Africa, jaguars<\/a> returned to the Iber\u00e1 area in Argentina for the first time in 70 years, India\u2019s cheetah<\/a> reintroduction programme celebrated the birth of five cubs in Kuno National Park and 31,000 bison<\/a> are roaming the prairies of America, Canada and Mexico again, thanks to historic conservation agreement between the three countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Saimaa ringed seal<\/a> | Scimitar oryx<\/a> | Red cockaded woodpecker<\/a> | Siamese crocodile<\/a> | Narwhal<\/a> | Arapaima<\/a> (fish) | Chipola slabshell and Fat threeridge<\/a> (mussels) | <\/strong>Iberian lynx<\/a> | Asiatic lions<\/a> | Australian saltwater crocodile <\/a>| Asian antelope<\/a> | <\/strong>Ul\u016blu<\/a> | Southern bluefin tuna<\/a>| Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog<\/a> | Yellow-footed rock wallabies<\/a> | Yangtze finless porpoise<\/a> | Pookila<\/a> |Orange-bellied parrots<\/a> | Putitor mahseer<\/a> (fish) | Giant pandas<\/a> |Florida golden aster<\/a> |<\/p>\n\n\n\n Passengers in the back of a taxi film themselves as they leave the Eiffel Tower, decorated with the Olympic rings ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, in July 2024. Credit: David Goldman\/AP<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amidst this year’s many horror stories of war and deprivation, classrooms filled with a new generation of students, and school feeding programs reached nearly half a billion of them, along with cleaner drinking water, proper sanitation and access to electricity and the internet. Confounding the doom-mongers, global happiness reached post-pandemic highs, air pollution fell, and many lower and middle income nations made remarkable strides in improving their quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn’t all bad news in wealthier nations either; the United States saw improving social and economic indicators, lower drug prices and a return in manufacturing jobs to levels not seen since the 1970s. Even long entrenched inequalities began yielding to pressure, as a worldwide push for tax justice gained momentum. A lot of things went wrong for a lot of people this year, but for millions of others, life got better – even if their stories didn’t make the headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Staggering statistics incoming: between 2000 and 2023, the number of children and adolescents not attending school fell by nearly 40%<\/a>, and Eastern and Southern Africa, achieved gender parity<\/a> in primary education, with 25 million more girls are enrolled in primary school today than in the early 2000s. Since 2015, an additional 110 million children have entered school<\/a> worldwide, and 40 million more young people are completing secondary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 480 million students are now getting fed<\/a> at school, up from 319 million before the pandemic, and 104 countries have joined a global coalition<\/a> to promote school meals, School feeding policies are now in place in 48 countries in Africa, and this year Nigeria<\/a> announced plans to expand school meals to 20 million children by 2025, Kenya<\/a> committed to expanding its program from two million to ten million children by the end of the decade, and Indonesia<\/a> pledged to provide lunches to all 78 million of its students, in what will be the world’s largest free school meals program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will come as a surprise to anyone with a regular news habit, but Gallup’s annual global survey of 146,000 people in 142 countries revealed that negative emotions declined for the first time in a decade<\/a>, and positive emotions reached their highest level since before the pandemic, with an uptick in people feeling more well-rested, experiencing more enjoyment, and smiling or laughing more. Among all age groups, young people were by far the best off, and Latin American and Southeast Asian countries topped the list of places where people felt better about their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Bank says that global poverty has returned to pre-pandemic levels<\/a>, but progress has stagnated. More encouragingly, there have been some notable individual success stories: Brazil<\/a> reported a 40% decline in extreme poverty in just one year, Mexico’s<\/a> social policies have lifted 9.5 million people from poverty since 2018, Cambodia<\/a> has lifted nearly half of its poor population out of poverty since 2017; in the Philippines<\/a> the poverty rate will fall from 17% in 2021 to an expected 10% by next year; Viet Nam<\/a> continued its successful multidimensional poverty reduction efforts, and researchers suggested (controversially) that India<\/a> had eliminated extreme poverty altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In what might be this year’s most invisible story of progress<\/a>, a WHO-UNICEF report revealed that between 2015 and 2023, over 200 million children<\/em> gained access to improved water, sanitation, or hygiene services at school. That’s not a typo. Also this year, Malaysia<\/a> closed in on universal access to clean water and sanitation, Mexico<\/a> announced a \u20ac5 billion investment in clean water, Nepal<\/a> reported a three-fold decline in diarrhoea rates for children, a new project in Brazil<\/a> gave over a million rural residents access to water and sanitation, Senegal<\/a> kicked off a project to provide water and sanitation to seven million people, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> one-upped that with a project to provide access to 12 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Europe, emissions of the main air pollutants maintained a downward trend<\/a> with PM2.5 and PM10 decreasing on average by 2.72% and 2.45% annually for the past two decades. India\u2019s<\/a> national program to combat pollution has seen a 5.9% decline in PM2.5 levels in Delhi, China\u2019s<\/a> average density of PM2.5 was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, almost 3 micrograms per cubic meter lower than the annual target, and global deaths<\/a> of children under five from household air pollution have decreased by 36%, largely driven by reductions in exposure in China and South Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Global electricity access continued to improve<\/a> in 2024 and in April, the World Bank and the African Development Bank announced a transformative project<\/a> to deliver electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030, backed by a pledge of $30 billion. Nigeria<\/a> launched a rural electrification project to provide electricity to 17.5 million people, and Uganda<\/a> kicked off a project to provide free electricity to at least one million low-income households. On the digital front, the World Bank launched an eight-year initiative to extend broadband internet access to 180 million people in Eastern and Southern Africa<\/a>, and approved funding for better internet access for 20 million people in the Philippines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paris continued to be at the forefront of global urban renewal efforts, implementing a ban<\/a> on motorists driving through central areas of the city, announcing plans to swap 60,000 parking spaces for trees<\/a>, and reporting a 40% decline in air pollution<\/a> in the last decade. Kigali<\/a>, Rwanda, became Africa\u2019s cleanest city thanks to community efforts and government policies, a mass cleaning drive in the Chennai<\/a>, India removed 250 tonnes of waste from parks in a single day, In Italy, Turin<\/a> continued its evolution from ‘motor city’ to a cycling haven, Medellin<\/a>, Colombia cut temperatures by 2\u00b0C in three years by planting trees, Berlin<\/a> became a sponge city and New York<\/a> opened around 60km of ‘greenways.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year saw the government secure lower prices for ten costly drugs<\/a> and the largest ever recorded drop in overdose deaths<\/a>, Minimum wage<\/a> increases went into effect in 25 states, over $180 billion in student debt relief<\/a> helped nearly 4.8 million Americans, teen smoking<\/a> hit an all time low, incarceration rates<\/a> were 11% lower than in 2019, school violence<\/a> declined precipitously (aside from gun violence) and historic investments in manufacturing led to the first full recovery of manufacturing jobs<\/a> in 30 states since the 1970s. The Biden Administration also cracked down on untraceable ghost guns<\/a>, and allocated billions to combat hunger<\/a>, repair water infrastructure<\/a>, and support survivors of domestic abuse<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The past year marked a pivotal moment in the global push for tax justice, with significant strides made toward reshaping the international tax system. In November, G20 finance ministers confirmed a historic agreement<\/a> to \u201cengage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed. In the United States, the Biden administration recovered $172 million from 21,000 wealthy taxpayers who hadn\u2019t filed returns since 2017, and a few ultra-wealthy individuals used their money for good: Melinda French Gates announced a two-year, $1 billion commitment to protect women\u2019s rights<\/a>, and MacKenzie Scott has so far given away a staggering $17.3 billion<\/a> following her divorce from Jeff Bezos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n America\u2019s crime trends in 2024 were remarkably positive<\/a> with an enormous decline in murder, a continued small but steady decline in violent crime, and a sizeable decline in motor vehicle theft on the heels of several years of surges. The nation\u2019s murder rate has largely erased the post-COVID surge, reported violent and property crime were likely amongst the lowest rates recorded since the 1960s and 1970s, and the shoplifting epidemic of the last few years turned out to be a mirage<\/a>. In Mexico<\/a>, homicide rates dropped to their lowest level since 2016, in Brazil<\/a>, homicide rates fell to a 14-year low, and in the Phillipines<\/a> crime rates have fallen by more than 50% compared to six years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sun rises over a solar farm in the foothills of FuJjian, China. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"86](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/size\/w100\/2024\/12\/john-towner-3Kv48NS4WUU-unsplash-1-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSign up for Fix The News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent
Damascus, Syria, 14th December 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nGlobal Health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n1. A game-changing HIV drug was the biggest story of 2024<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
2. Another incredible year for disease elimination<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
3. Weight loss drugs took on the obesity crisis, and possibly more<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
4. We fought back against the world’s deadliest infectious disease<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
5. And we\u2019d be remiss not to mention malaria<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-16-at-10.39.02-AM-1-1.png\")
6. Vaccines saved millions of lives (again)<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
7. India extended health coverage to millions of elderly citizens<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
8. Incredible progress in reducing infant mortality in South Asia<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/UNI533456.jpg\")
9. We’re on track for the first ever elimination of a cancer<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
10. Cancer mortality declined in many wealthier countries<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
11. And better cancer treatments are coming<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/3500.jpg\")
12. Humanity is kicking a bad habit, and taking up a less harmful one<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
13. Pioneering medical innovations led the way<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
14. Gaza’s polio campaign gave us a glimpse of light<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nConservation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n15. The EU passed a landmark nature restoration law<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
16. Deforestation in the Amazon halved in two years<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/Amazin-1.png\")
17. Some big wins for Amazon communities<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
18. And victories for Indigenous conservation around the world<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
19. The largest dam removal in history was completed<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
20. A rising tide of Indigenous-led marine protection<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
21. Something of a mixed bag for ocean conservation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
22. A lot<\/em> of new land was protected<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/6934--1-.jpg\")
23. Australia saw unexpected conservation progress<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
24. Hopeful signs of a reduction in overfishing<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
25. Did we save the whales?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/d41586-024-02604-1_27448144.webp\")
26. Another great year for river and lake restoration<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
27. And a boost for rivers across the United States<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
28. Forests in Ukraine thrived after disaster<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/Kakhovka-Reservoir-Green_Getty-Header--1-.jpg\")
29. A whole lot of legal victories for nature<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
30. The world\u2019s doomsday seed vault received its largest-ever deposit<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
31. The phase-out of plastics continued in some places<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
32. Roads became safer for animals\u2026 and humans<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/Cross.png\")
33. Re-wilding and restoration efforts continued<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
34. Tree planting efforts continued in many places<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
35. China completed a 3,000 kilometre green belt around a desert<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/Desert.png\")
36. Some hard-earned wins for animal rights<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
37. Keystone species returned home<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
38. All of these endangered species recovered<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nLiving Standards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n39. Millions more children got an education<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
40. We fed around a quarter of the world’s kids at school<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/JanjaEscola-Addis_FotoClaudio-Kbene.jpg\")
41. Global negative emotions fell for the first time in a decade <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
42. We saw mixed progress on reducing global poverty<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
43. And much better news on access to water, sanitation and hygiene<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/WASH-1.png\")
44. Global air quality improved<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
45. Global access to electricity and the internet improved<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
46. Cities got greener and cleaner<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/fixthenews.com\/content\/images\/2024\/12\/240522-bikers-france-vl-957a-6dea68.webp\")
47. The Biden Administration left a lasting legacy<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
48. Countries promised to crack down on the super-rich<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
49. Crime fell in some surprising places<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nEnergy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n