We know these past few months have been bearer of unfortunate, sad news, with the number of infected cases and deaths rising rapidly across the globe & the most optimists among us have been left contemplating the end of this pandemic. And during these grim times, we can often ignore the good news, circulating around. So, we've brought you a round up of some of the most positive news, for the environment and people this past week, to bring a smile and optimism to your coming week
Global greenhouse gas emissions predicted to fall by 8% in 2020
Probably one of the best news that we could receive, in a polarized geo-political
landscape, is the likelihood of almost 8% annual decline in carbon emissions - the largest in our post industrialization world. The report released by the International Energy Agency(IEA) Executive Director, Dr. Fatih Birol, said.
It is still too early to determine the longer-term impacts, but the energy industry that emerges from this crisis will be significantly different from the one that came before.
With the COVID-19 outbreak bringing the world coming to a screeching halt, the sudden drop in pollution levels, brought on by the lockdowns, have created the much needed visual impact of our over consumptions. And these are driving towards low-carbon sources of electricity, further aiding in the emissions reductions.
World coming together to celebrate Captain Thomas Moore’s 100th birthday
On 30th April 2020, not just the UK, but people all over the world, got together to celebrate the 100th birthday of Captain Thomas Moore - the WWII veteran, who famously captured our hearts in his efforts of raising millions of pounds for NHS Charities Together. He was promoted from the rank of a captain, to that of an honorary Colonel, in recognition of his astonishing achievement & received over 125,000 cards, all of which have been displayed in his grandson’s school. Most noted amongst these birthday wishes have been hand-written notes from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and Duchess Kate, and England football captain Harry Kane & a special video by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, broadcasted on BBC.  He was also given a spectacular Royal Air Force flyby by a Spitfire and Hurricane over his home in Bedfordshire, England.Â
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Pakistan hires thousands of unemployed people to plant trees
Amidst the global wave of unemployment, caused by the outbreak of this pandemic, Pakistani government has found a way to create jobs for their citizens, while working on their green goals. The five year initiative started by their PM Imran Khan in 2018, ambitiously branded as the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami campaign, was temporarily shut down due to the country going into quarantine, helplessly leaving a majority of their agriculture day workers unemployed. The government restarted this campaign earlier in April and has since then been able to create 63000 jobs, for those affected.
This Gym is helping addicts around the world, staying sober in quarantine
The Phoenix - a free, sober gym community, has been helping people across America, in using fitness, to overcome addiction and helps others do the same as well, is now going digital with their approach. In order to support their members and ensure that they can continue on their recovery journey, even during quarantine, The Phoenix have taken their classes online, continuing to meet groups and have opened up their meetings to social media across the world. Click here to learn more about their online meetings. Â
Face masks made from recycled ocean waste
The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) have teamed up with sustainably made sportswear brand Rash’r to make face masks from textiles created out of the plastic pollution, recovered from the oceans. PADI & Rash’r are not profiting from this effort, and are retailing these beautiful, eco-freindly masks at the manufacturing cost of $27 with five filters and have also developed these masks for children. Within a matter of weeks, they’ve had over 15000 pre-orders, which has helped recycle more than 1300 pound of ocean pollution.
Click here to get yourself one of these cool, low impact, effective face masks.