What went right this week: the good news that matters

A record number of people globally now have access to some sort of social protection, including pensions, disability benefits and direct cash payments. 

That’s according to a new report by the World Bank, which said that such protections are helping more people than ever “manage crises, escape poverty, navigate transitions and seize employment opportunities”. 

The report found that 4.7 billion people in low- and middle-income countries gained access to social protection over the last decade. However, critical gaps remain, with two billion people in such countries still “uncovered or inadequately covered” by social protection, it added. 

“Well-designed social protection programs have a high return on investment, support long-term human capital and economic growth, and help people become more self-reliant,” said the World Bank. “For every $1 (£0.76) transferred to poor families, there is an estimated multiplier effect of $2.50 (£1.89) in the local economy”.

Image: Vignesh Moorthy

It’s taken a decade to achieve, and many nations are underwhelmed with the result, but this week countries struck a historic deal to reduce the shipping sector’s emissions.

The agreement puts a price on maritime emissions and means that from 2028, the owners of vessels will have to use cleaner fuels or face a penalty of up to $380 (£287) per tonne of carbon dioxide they emit.

The shipping sector accounts for around 3% of global emissions, with many commercial vessels burning a particularly dirty fuel – heavy fuel oil – when out at sea. 

The agreement passed at a meeting of the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO). While it marks a first for the shipping industry, some nations were left disappointed after petrostates scuppered proposals for higher levies on emissions and more stringent fuel standards.

“The IMO has made an historic decision, yet ultimately one that fails climate-vulnerable countries and falls short of the ambition the climate crisis demands,” said Emma Fenton, senior director of climate diplomacy at Opportunity Green, an NGO. 

Image: Andy Li

Is Australia turning the tide on ocean pollution? New research offers cause for optimism, pointing to a 39% reduction in plastic waste in coastal regions over the last decade.

The survey – conducted by officials from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency – also recorded a 16% increase in areas assessed as having “no plastic debris at all.”

Dr Denise Hardesty, senior research scientist at CSIRO and co-author of the research, said with up to 53m metric tonnes of plastic waste estimated to enter aquatic ecosystems by 2030, it was heartening to see a significant decrease in plastic pollution on Australian beaches and coasts.

“Although there are still areas for concern, it’s exciting to see a significant decrease in plastic pollution as people around the country are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of plastic waste,” she said. 

Image: Nick Dunn

Most schools in England have outlawed or restricted mobile phones in some way, according to the first national survey on the subject.

The poll of more than 15,000 schools found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools have implemented some sort of ban amid mounting evidence linking early years phone use with mental health problems. 

Unlike in The Netherlands and France, there is no statutory ban on phones in UK schools, but there are calls for one. 

“I think it would alleviate pressure on school leaders, teachers and also parents,” said Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union. 

Other experts are calling for a more nuanced approach. In a paper published in the British Medical Journal, academics make the case for equipping children with digital skills and mandating more child-friendly technology, rather than bans.

“Supporting the healthy development of children requires an approach to smartphone and social media use underpinned by age-appropriate design and education,” researchers wrote. 

Image: RDNE Stock Project

A “pioneering” new way of treating heart failure has cut deaths by nearly two-thirds, bringing hope to those affected by the potentially deadly condition.

The approach, which involves giving patients a stronger dose of drugs early on rather than gradually, was shown to reduce deaths by 62% in a global trial. 

St George’s Hospital in London was the first in England to trial it. As well as cutting death rates, the hospital said that it would reduce pressure on the country’s National Health Service, by reducing readmittance rates. 

“Heart failure kills as many people as cancer, yet cancer treatments such as chemotherapy start faster,” said Matthew Sunter, lead heart failure nurse at St George’s. “Now, armed with our new knowledge, we’re able to replicate this with heart failure patients, starting them on higher doses of medicines and increasing them much more quickly.

“I’ve been in this role 10 years, and when I started, I never imagined we could treat patients in this manner. We’ve come a really long way.”  

In a separate development, a study found that patients who received a combination of statins and the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe immediately after a heart attack had a lower risk of having another than those who didn’t. 

Image: CDC

An unlikely TV hit that chronicles Sweden’s annual moose migration in real-time has returned to screens this week. 

The Great Moose Migration, broadcast by SVT, first aired in 2019, with around one million people tuning in to the live-streamed show. Last year’s broadcast, by contrast, was watched by nine million people. 

“We actually don’t see [the moose] very often … maybe once or twice in your life,” Johan Erhag, project manager for the broadcaster SVT, told the Associated Press. “I think that’s one thing why it has been so, so popular. And then you bring in the nature to everyone’s living room.”

Image: Shivam Kumar

A Tanzanian diet that is slowly falling out of favour has been hailed for its anti-inflammatory effects, leading experts to call for African heritage diets to be better documented. 

In a randomised trial involving 77 men, the switch from a western diet to the Tanzanian heritage diet – which is rich in plantains, cassavas and a fermented banana drink – was found to promote an anti-inflammatory state.    

By contrast, the switch from the heritage diet to a more processed western diet was shown to promote inflammation. Chronic inflammation is a key driver of many non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s.

Those behind the study, published in Nature Medicine, warned that African heritage diets “are being replaced by Western-style dietary patterns because of urbanisation, economic development, increased access to processed foods, globalisation and changing social norms”. 

“Preserving the consumption of heritage diets or incorporating indigenous and traditional foods into dietary practices could have a critical role in preventing and managing NCDs,” the study’s authors said. 

Image: Chuttersnap

The days of stodgy school scran are over in Spain, which has just brought in new rules to make school dinners healthier. 

The legislation obliges all schools to serve nutritious meals that are rich in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and fish, but low in processed foods. Sugary drinks are banned. 

The government hopes the move will promote healthy eating and tackle the country’s growing obesity crisis.

Image: Katerina Holmes

Researchers in Japan claim to have overcome a big hurdle in the cultivation of lab-grown meat. 

They say that a new method, which involves feeding cells oxygen and nutrients through hollow fibres, offers scope for significantly scaling the production of cultivated meat – a key barrier for the fledgling industry. 

Lab-grown meat is slaughter-free and requires a fraction of the land and water needed for animal livestock. However, there is no long-term health data on cultivated meat, which is expensive to produce and has so far proven difficult to scale. 

Not for much longer, say researchers at the University of Tokyo, who claim their innovation “has the potential to revolutionise cultured meat production”.

Prof Derek Stewart of the James Hutton Institute, a Scottish research initiative, told the Guardian: “This looks like a transformative step, it’s a really elegant solution.”

Image: Fernando Andrade

What to do with all those old wind turbines as they reach the end of their lives? How about turning them into homes? 

That’s one idea on the table as nations decommission ageing turbines and replace them with new ones. 

Positive News had a peek at the first-of-its kind turbine home for an article published this week. The elegant design makes use of the hard-to-recycle but watertight nacelle, which previously housed the turbine’s gear box and generator.

“With this nacelle, we are in the sweet spot of it being big enough to live in and small enough to transport on land,” said Jos de Krieger, a designer at the Dutch firm Superuse Studios, which came up with the concept home.

Read more: How ‘super turbines’ could turbocharge green energy (and what to do with the old ones)

Image: Jorrit Lousberg
Main image: FG Trade