The world’s largest database of good news and social change milestones from throughout human history
We are building the world’s largest database of social change milestones, from the first fire to today’s good news. Change is not only possible, it has happened consistently throughout human history. Filter by era, country, topic, actor, source, and more.
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Era
- Tomorrow (2025 C.E. - ???)
- Today (2017 C.E. - 2024 C.E.)
- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
- Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
- Post-classical (500 - 1500 C.E.)
- Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
- Agriculture (10000 - 3000 B.C.E.)
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2020 C.E. November 2South Korea vows to go carbon neutral by 2050
In a policy speech in the national assembly South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in said that South Korea, one of the world’s most fossil fuel-reliant economies, would “actively respond” to the climate emergency “with the international community and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”.
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2020 C.E. October 31Tuberculosis deaths have fallen by 14% in five years, saving 60 million in the last two decades
In the World Health Organization’s annual global tuberculosis report, the UN agency responsible for international public health forecasts hundreds of thousands of people recovering from, or avoiding the disease of TB altogether. Since 2000, TB treatment has averted the deaths of 60 million people, the disease itself being treatable with the right medicine.
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2020 C.E. October 31After 45 years the gray wolf has successfully been lifted off the U.S. endangered species list
Numbers of gray wolves have soared over the last four decades—from under a hundred refugees hiding out in northeastern Minnesota and Michigan’s upper peninsula to around 6,000 individuals.
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2020 C.E. October 30Toxic sulfur dioxide emissions fell across India, Russia, and China last year– dropping 6% globally
In 2019, the levels of anthropogenic SO2 emissions fell worldwide by 6%. In only the second time ever, SO2 emissions fell in all three of the countries most responsible for emitting it: China, India, and Russia.
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2020 C.E. October 29Texas reverses rule allowing social workers the “right” to refuse LGBTQ clients
In 2010 and 2012, the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners passed protections that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Over the past two years, state Republicans have pushed to repeal these measures.
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2020 C.E. October 29Population of endangered leopard species rebounds in China
Camera footage installed by Bing Xie, a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen and her fellow research colleagues showed an increase of 25 percent in northern China's Loess Plateau's leopard population from 88 in 2016 to 110 in 2017.
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2020 C.E. October 29World’s largest seagrass restoration project grows from 600 to 9,000 acres off coast of Virginia
Marine scientists and volunteers spread more than 70 million eelgrass seeds off Virginia's shores. Led by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and with help from The Nature Conservancy, the project has grown to over 8,896 acres.
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2020 C.E. October 28Oregon closes state’s last coal plant in favor of green energy
The last plant in Oregon, which opened in 1977, was pushed to close by a lawsuit filed against General Electric for air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions concerns.
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2020 C.E. October 28As U.S. election nears, polling shows 82% of voters support 100% clean energy transition
With an estimated 66 million ballots already cast, new polling released Tuesday shows the vast majority of U.S. voters support legislation to decarbonize the economy over the next few decades.
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2020 C.E. October 27Entire state of South Australia powered solely by solar in a world first
The state of South Australia for a short period earlier in October met 100 percent of its energy needs from solar power – a world-first for a jurisdiction of its size.
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2020 C.E. December 7New Africa alliance aims to tackle deadly COVID ‘infodemic’
The Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA), brings together 13 international and regional organizations, together with fact-checking groups which have expertise in data and behavioural science, epidemiology, research, digital health and communications.
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2020 C.E. December 7Chinese island province of Hainan bans all disposable plastics
Plastic polymer food containers, forks, drink cups, knives, straws, plastic bags, packaging bags, and other items that are not biodegradable are no longer allowed to be sold at major establishments like supermarkets, hospitals, government and state-owned buildings like schools, and tourist attractions.
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2020 C.E. December 4Denmark announces end to oil & gas exploration in North Sea
According to the Washington Post, the Danish Parliament voted on December 3 to end offshore gas and oil extraction, which had started in 1972 and made the country the largest producer in the European Union. The Danish government says it is “now putting an end to the fossil fuel era.”
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2020 C.E. December 4San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle ban natural gas in new buildings
In November, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to ban natural gas in new buildings. On December 2, Oakland’s city council did the same. Now Seattle Mayor Durkan announced a proposal to ban natural gas in new commercial and large multi-family construction for space and most water heating.
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2020 C.E. December 4Anchorage introduces team of mental health first responders
Starting next year in Anchorage, Alaska, a new team of mental health first responders will replace police for emergency calls for someone with a mental health issue. The Mobile Crisis Team is funded by a new local alcohol tax and the team is trained to be dispatched to situations police do not have adequate training to address.
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2020 C.E. December 3First of-its-kind study suggests psilocybin can help treat migraines
A first-of-its-kind exploratory study, led by researchers from Yale School of Medicine, has found a single dose of the psychedelic psilocybin can reduce migraine frequency by 50 percent for a least two weeks.
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2020 C.E. December 3First tribally-associated medical school in the United States launches in the Cherokee Nation
In rural Oklahoma, a brand new medical school sits in the Cherokee Nation, training Nation members to become physicians at Nation clinics. Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation is the first tribally associated medical school in the country.
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2020 C.E. December 3Nasdaq to mandate diversity requirements for listed companies
The diversity requirements would mandate that each of the Nasdaq’s 3,249 companies have at least one female director and at least one director who identifies as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+.
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2020 C.E. December 2Eat Just’s lab-grown chicken gets world’s first cultured meat approval
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has declared that the U.S.-based company Eat Just can sell its cultured "chicken bites" in the country, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
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2020 C.E. December 2New Zealand declares climate emergency
The government of New Zealand declared a climate emergency, a symbolic step recognizing IPCC predictions of substantial global warming if emissions do not fall. Alongside the declaration, New Zealand announced it would require its public sector to become carbon neutral by 2025.