{"id":17014,"date":"2023-03-31T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/?p=17014"},"modified":"2023-11-29T15:29:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T15:29:52","slug":"monthly-good-news-7-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/monthly-good-news-7-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Good News #7: March"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here we are again. March is coming to an end and we\u2019re almost at Easter. More importantly, we\u2019re almost at Eurovision. No one can feel sad when Eurovision exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, if you\u2019re new here: Monthly Good News is a series in which we wrap up as much good news from the month as I can find before I run out of steam. This month\u2019s list is <em>long. <\/em>And like always, hyperlinked, so you can go read more about these really cool and excellent things and bring more joy to your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the world doesn\u2019t suck. You may think it does, but it doesn\u2019t. If people were terrible and nothing was going to get better, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oscars.org\/oscars\/ceremonies\/2023\">Brendan Fraser wouldn\u2019t have won an Oscar at the Academy Awards<\/a>, now would he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So sit back, relax, get yourself a drink and maybe your favourite blanket, and feel a little better about the world you live in.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the first time<a href=\"https:\/\/ftsewomenleaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ftse-women-leaders-review-report-2022-v2.pdf\">, the proportion of women in boardroom roles<\/a> at listed British firms has risen above 40%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.natwestgroup.com\/news-and-insights\/latest-stories\/enterprise\/2023\/feb\/the-alison-rose-review-of-female-entrepreneurship.html\">A record number of women<\/a> launched a business in the UK last year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/renewables-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A report<\/a> forecast solar to be the world\u2019s leading source of electricity by 2027<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A river in Lewes, England, could be the country\u2019s first to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2023\/mar\/01\/sussex-river-ouse-first-in-england-legal-rights-aoe\">granted the legal right to good health<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nokia launches a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/tech\/nokia-new-phone-self-repair-b2290390.html\">smartphone with entirely replaceable and fixable parts<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk\/documents\/s182953\/TMO%20Review%20Stage%202%20End%20of%20Review%20Committee%20Report%20PT%20March%202023%20V1.pdf\">A report<\/a> says that cyclists now outnumber motorists at peak times in central London<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A historic pledge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2023\/mar\/05\/high-seas-treaty-agreement-to-protect-international-waters-finally-reached-at-un\">to safeguard the world\u2019s oceans<\/a> has been agreed by nearly 200 UN member states that will make 30% of the oceans outside national boundaries into protected waters<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The annual Our Ocean Conference also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/2023-our-ocean-conference-in-panama-raises-20-billion\/\">raised $20 billion for expanding marine protection<\/a> and improving biodiversity corridors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NASA appoints its <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/03\/07\/nasas-first-head-of-science-says-new-role-is-best-job-on-the-planet-18400133\/\">first female science chief<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UK <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/analysis-uk-emissions-fall-3-4-in-2022-as-coal-use-drops-to-lowest-level-since-1757\/?utm_source=cbnewsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=2023-03-06&amp;utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+06+03+2023\">coal demand fell during 2022<\/a> to its lowest level in nearly three centuries<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UK government announces a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefa.com\/news\/2023\/mar\/07\/england-womens-lionesses-euro-legacy-achieved-20230803\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a3600m school sports package<\/a>&nbsp;to level the playing field for girls<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>American history was made in the new $6.3bn (\u00a35.3bn)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/biden-harris-administration-announces-6-billion-drastically-reduce-industrial-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">clean-up package<\/a>&nbsp;announced by the US government, their largest investment in industrial decarbonisation yet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Australia, Scientists have uncovered&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lens.monash.edu\/@medicine-health\/2023\/03\/09\/1385541\/the-enzyme-that-could-help-make-energy-dreams-come-true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a \u2018natural battery\u2019 enzyme<\/a>&nbsp;that could prove to be the holy grail of clean energy: electricity from thin air<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The US government agrees to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/01\/25\/climate\/alaska-tongass-national-forest.html\">reinstate restrictions on logging and road building<\/a> in the world\u2019s largest intact temperate rainforest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Albania gets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iucn.org\/press-release\/202303\/vjosa-one-our-last-wild-rivers-becomes-europes-first-wild-river-national-park#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20Vjosa%20River%20in,River%20National%20Park%20in%20Europe.\">Europe\u2019s first wild river national park<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202303147109\">Dancing became a form of protest in Iran<\/a>; an act deemed illegal in public by the oppressive state<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/mar\/15\/south-korea-u-turns-on-69-hour-working-week-after-youth-backlash\">South Korean protesters succeed<\/a> in making government rethink plans to extend the maximum hours in the work week to 69 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meanwhile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.positive.news\/society\/the-results-of-the-worlds-largest-four-day-week-trial-are-in\/\">UK\u2019s pilot of the 4-day work week<\/a> is a hit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Excess heat from a data centre <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-64939558\">used to heat a swimming pool<\/a> in Devon, England<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>During the 2022\/23 winter<a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/last-winter-renewable-energy-generated-more-electricity-than-gas-in-the-uk\">, renewables generated more electricity than gas<\/a> in the UK<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>$120 million has been donated to help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/arcelormittal-gives-120-million-funding-boost-to-make-steel-production-more-eco-friendly\">make steel production more eco-friendly<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Switzerland are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/switzerland-set-to-roll-out-solar-panels-between-railway-tracks-a-world-first\/\">rolling out solar panels on the unused space down the centre of train tracks<\/a>; if they work, they will be able to power millions of homes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.x1wind.com\/news\/x1-winds-x30-floating-wind-prototype-delivers-first-kwh\/\">New floating wind turbine prototype<\/a> which is more compatible with the sea and has a lower carbon footprint than previous models produced its first KWh of energy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/ecoasia-has-planted-170-million-trees-to-date-and-counting\">Ecosia, the eco-friendly search engine, has now planted more than 170 million trees since its founding in 2009<\/a>. The search engine uses ad revenue to plant trees, is transparent with their financials and tree-planting receipts, and doesn\u2019t sell users\u2019 data to trackers or advertisers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>600-acre abandoned airport in Athens, Greece, is being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/abandoned-airport-will-be-transformed-into-green-space-in-greece\">turned into a thriving, coastal green space.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2023\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/worldhappiness.report\/\">World Happiness Report<\/a> has noted a global \u201csurge in benevolence\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A study has revealed that since Scotland instated a minimum price on alcohol, there has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(23)00497-X\/fulltext\">13% reduction in alcohol-related deaths<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A study by Kings College London has discovered that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.positive.news\/society\/how-the-uk-became-more-liberal-despite-the-culture-wars\/\">UK is one of the most socially progressive nations in the world<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br>There! Don\u2019t you feel better now? Don\u2019t you feel a little calmer? A little less like the world is an inherently terrible place where only bad things happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. That\u2019s what I thought. Also, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.positive.news\/environment\/conservation\/beavers-arent-being-released-in-london-but-theyll-be-in-the-capital-soon\/\">beavers are probably going to be in London by 2030<\/a> because of how many we have in Kent. Just picture a little beaver going sightseeing, walking beside the River Thames, visiting the London Eye. You can\u2019t feel negative emotions while thinking about beavers in the big city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><em>By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monthly Good News is a series in which we wrap up as much good news from the month as I can find before I run out of steam. This month&#8217;s list is long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331329,"featured_media":17030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4138,66,86],"tags":[110,366,3822,2014],"class_list":["post-17014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-good-news","category-sustainability-engagement","category-whole-earth","tag-acting-together","tag-cccusustainability","tag-good-news","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Bethany Climpson","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/669\/2023\/03\/Welcome-to-5.png","postExcerpt":"Monthly Good News is a series in which we wrap up as much good news from the month as I can find before I run out of steam. This month's list is long.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17022,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17014\/revisions\/17022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}