This is a very special edition of Monthly Good News, as we’re about to step right into two weeks of COP28 – the special time of the year when UN countries gather together to talk about the environment and make some hard choices about the direction this planet is heading in. For some people, this is a hopeful time! For others, desperately dreadful. So today’s Monthly Good News is to help you through this time and give you that final boost of positivity to help lift you into the holiday season.

If you need something a little more tangible – don’t fear! At Christ Church, we’re hosting a COP28@CCCU calendar of events, where you can get involved with a wide variety of activities, from Craftivism to Nature Walks and Escape Rooms. Take a look at the events programme and book yourself onto whatever will bring you joy.

On with the good news:

• 120 full time “river warriors” have cleaned 200 rivers in Indonesia in the attempt to stop plastic waste from entering the ocean
• Dominica created the world’s first marine protected area for sperm whales
• U.S. renewable energy costs have dropped up to 90% over the last decade
• The EU has criminalised environmental damage “comparable to ecocide”
• U.S. and China agree to triple their renewables by 2030
• New EU laws will be forcefully putting a stop to Big Oil’s methane pollution
• China unveils a vast action plan to cut methane emissions
• Deforestation in the Amazon down to a 5-year low
• The U.S. joins consensus on a loss and damage fund ahead of COP28
• Nambia starts construction on Africa’s first decarbonised iron plant
• A study concluded that letting forests grow old could sequester 226 gigatonnes of carbon
• Australia offers refuse to people affected by the climate crisis in Tuvalu
• Latvia legalised gay partnerships
• The entire population of Kenya was given the 13^th of November off to plant trees
• “Five pioneering eco innovators” were awarded £1m each to develop their ideas after winning the 2023 Earthshot Prize
• For the first time since 2001, the majority of people polled think that immigration is a positive thing from the UK (59%), enriches the country’s cultural life (58%) and makes the country a better place to live (56%).
• Congo’s Conkouati-Douli national park is expanding 2,900sq km, which will hopefully tackle the area’s current illegal fishing plague
• Portugal produced more renewable energy than it needed for 149 hours straight – a new record. The country aims to be carbon neutral by 2045.
• Blue whales return to the Indian Ocean where they were once wiped out by commercial whalers 40 years ago
• The EU is set to implement a raft of new laws to scale up the circular economy; one law being a ban to sending plastic waste overseas for poorer nations to deal with

That’s all I have this month, but I hope it made you feel a little better about the world we’re living in! Next month will be our yearly special, in which we take a look at some news I missed from the whole year and bring back a few favourites so you can see just how many amazing things happened in 2023, and feel that little bit better about humanity.

But, if you need even more joy now, check out our COP28 events and come along!

See you next month ✌️

By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant