January is the most depressing month of the year, so congratulations for getting through it. January is the kind of month that makes you feel every single one of its 31 days, and that means we actually still have two more to go, as of posting.

So, to help you with those final days: a good news roundup.

If you’re new here, Monthly Good News is a (shocker!) monthly event in which we all get a release of dopamine while reading about some of the good things that happened in the last month, most (or all) of which you probably didn’t hear about. Every single story is linked to its source and by the end of reading, you should be able to put a little more of your trust in humanity, because humans really are just trying their best to help each other.

• The Mediterranean Monk seal is making a comeback
• In 2023, Banofi Leather, an Indian climate-tech startup, won the largest student entrepreneurship competition in the world, the Hult Prize, and they are now selling leather made from banana stems, which has a significantly lower environmental impact than animal or plastic leather
• Cameroon is the first country to start routine vaccines against malaria, a historic milestone
• No cases of cervical cancer have been detected in young women in Scotland who were vaccinated against HPV; a routine vaccination in the UK since 2008
• Wind, solar and nuclear power are set to cover all the world’s additional electricity needs over the next three years
• Global emissions from electricity generation are expected to decrease 2.4% in 2024
• A five-year US study has revealed that solar farms safeguard insect populations and improve pollination services on adjacent farms
• New York officials is partnering with the nonprint RIP Medical Debt to buy up billions of dollars’ worth of medical debt and erase it, a programme that could help as many as 500,000 New Yorkers
• Drip pricing (unavoidable charges revealed only at the checkout stage) and fake reviews are set to be outlawed in the UK under the planned digital markets, competition and consumers bill
• A 13-year South Korean study has revealed that doing just 15 minutes of extra physical activity a day can mitigate the damage caused by desk jobs
• Therapy project yields ‘dramatic’ rise in Sats results in a London school
• Chile and Palau are the first countries to ratify the historic ocean treaty that was announced last September
• The EU approved a landmark greenwashing law that prohibits manufacturers from using eco buzzwords unless the product truly is greener than conventional ones
• Satellite data revealed that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon declined by half in 2023
• Electricity generated from fossil fuels in the UK fell 22% year-on-year in 2023, to the lowest level since 1957
• Dominican Republic is the latest country to trial the four-day work week
• UK pools could soon be heated by data centres
• Climate ‘solutionist’ Hannah Ritchie talks nine data-driven reasons to be optimistic about our climate future

Do you feel like you need more good news to get you through the day? Check out the previous 16 good news blogs and learn a little more about the good things this world has to offer.

See you next month ✌️

By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant