FSC / Jonathan Perugia

8 good news stories about climate change in 2024

Read good news about climate change with 8 stories that show reducing carbon emissions, improving biodiversity, and protections for the planet Earth.

December 27, 2024

Climate anxiety is a very real issue and an increasing concern for people around the world. Among 10,000 young people between ages 16 and 25, a staggering 60 per cent say they’re very worried about climate change. Almost half say this anxiety affects their day-to-day life.

Earth is in the midst of a climate emergency, and with decades of bad news stories, young people around the world are rightfully worried about their future.

But it’s not all bad.

In fact, with national climate initiatives, corporate commitments, and increased attention to the Earth’s well-being, there’s plenty of good news about climate change to celebrate, too.

This article digs into the top eight climate stories to boost optimism and continue to inspire action against climate change.

Table of Contents

Companies increase commitment to climate initiatives
Fully available carbon-zero technology
The Green Deal limits temperature increases
Sustainably managed forests improve resilience
AI opportunities help fight climate change
Ireland realizes lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 30 years
Renewable wind and solar oust fossil fuels
EU votes to criminalize eco damages

1. Companies are more committed than ever to meet science-based targets

Companies around the globe have a particular responsibility to take action against climate change, and more corporations are committing to ethical, sustainable climate initiatives.

Most notably, companies like 3M and Volvo are committing to science-based targets that promote a Corporate Net-Zero Standard.

This standard provides a clear framework for large companies to set science-based net-zero targets, and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) organization offers a wealth of resources and training to support committed corporations.

The Net Zero Standard doesn’t just define “net zero” and identify solutions. It makes sustainable initiatives achievable by breaking the standard down into four key components for net zero targets:

Short-term targets set science-based, emission-reduction initiatives designed to roughly halve emissions in conformance with corporate value chain (scope 3) accounting and reporting standards.
Long-term targets to cut as many emissions as feasibly possible, aiming for an over 90 per cent reduction of scope 3 emissions in conformance accounting and reporting standards.
Neutralization of residual emissions by using permanent carbon removal, proper storage, and carbon credits to counterbalance the impact of remaining emissions after long-term emission-reduction targets are achieved.
Beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM), an immediate investment into emission reduction and removal outside of corporate value chains, in addition to near-term and long-term science-based targets.

These are tough targets, but 2022 saw an 80 per cent increase in companies committing to ambitious goals. Statistics the following year found that nearly 50 per cent of Fortune 500 companies had committed to one or more significant climate initiatives.

There’s still major room for growth to reach these goals as a planet, but increased commitments and straightforward standards are a powerful step forward.

It’s also not just a problem for big business. Smaller businesses can do their part by opting for sustainable materials, like cafes using FSC certified paper for cup sleeves and certified Fairtrade coffee beans. Offices might also update to high-efficiency appliances and LED lighting or opt for work-from-home policies that reduce commute times.

For ways to make work more sustainable, check out Science-based targets, FSC certifications, and local networks for guidance and support.

2. Carbon-zero technologies are fully available

The UN’s Paris Agreement aims to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 to manage the Earth’s rising temperatures, which requires global collaboration. Luckily, the technologies we need already exist.

Currently, the energy sector generates three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean energy is the cornerstone for decarbonization, and it has to be widely available and abundant enough to cover the increasing demand for affordable energy. A mix of zero-carbon energy sources include:

Bioenergy that uses organic substances like plant and animal matter to produce fuel, like biodiesel or ethanol made from vegetable oils and fats.
Renewables, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower sources that come from natural, replenishable resources.
Green hydrogen-based fuels are produced with an electrolysis process using renewable energy. This provides energy for heavy industry and freight transportation needs that renewables alone can’t effectively manage.

Clean energy sources are essential, but they only work when the global community adapts its behaviours to prioritize carbon-zero initiatives and reduce consumption and demand.

This includes shifting to electric vehicles for personal and professional use, adapting building designs so they’re carbon-zero-ready, and upgrading existing appliances and structures to high-efficiency systems.

A bar chart compares energy sources by CO2 emissions, indicating coal produces the most emissions and nuclear energy the least.

Advancements to existing technologies like improved battery efficiency also promotes the shift to zero-carbon electric energy sources to reduce global demand for oil and fossil fuels. A shift in consumer behaviours further promotes industrial change, helping create a clean energy Earth by 2050.

Ultimately, it’s up to governments to align with the UN’s Net Zero Coalition and set policies that promote compliance. Everyone has a responsibility to do some of the heavy lifting and create collective change to reduce tha trajectory of climate change.

Individually, everyone has the power to make personal changes that can influence social movements and pressure agencies to transition to existing carbon-zero technologies sooner rather than later.

3. The Green Deal successfully limits temperature increases

The UN’s Paris Agreement aims to cap global temperature increases at 1.5°C by 2050 with global adoption of sustainability measures. Hitting this temperature limit can reverse the most significant impacts of climate change and prevent further damage.

The European Union committed to this goal with the 2019 Green Deal, which includes policies to expand renewable energy, set new standards for car emissions, and reform existing and introduce new EU emissions trading systems.

In the years since the Green Deal agreement, the EU has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions so significantly that it’s now expected to reach a low 3°C temperature increase by 2030 – an over 1 point decrease from the 4°C+ estimate with 2019 policies. That’s also a 51 per cent reduction of emissions from the 1990s levels.

While this is still shy of the Paris Agreement’s 2050 goals, it is on target to limit temperature increases to 2°C by the end of the century. And this enormous increase in European commitments and clear improvements via tangible actions show positive momentum towards global goals. Especially considering Europe is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitting regions in the world.

4. Sustainably managed forests support biodiversity and climate resilience

Thriving ecosystems and healthy forests, from Brazilian rainforests to Siberian taiga, are essential support systems for life on Earth and climate resilience.

To a newcomer, managing the health of Earth’s forests feels at odds with increased production and agriculture needs to support a growing global population. But it shouldn’t be.

More individuals and corporations are recognizing that forest stewardship is key to a sustainable future. Well-maintained forests help combat climate change, and they facilitate the well-being of people, particularly Indigenous Peoples, and the planet as a whole.

It’s not just about access to food and natural resources, either. Between 2001-2019, global forests removed about twice as much carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere as they emitted annually.

Organizations like FSC are committed to protecting forest futures by:

Addressing biodiversity loss
Improving sustainable raw material extraction for forestry products like lumber and rubber
Prioritizing ethical and sustainable supply chain practices
Advocating for forest protections, climate initiatives, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Huong Son State Forest Company in Vietnam is one example of how forest stewardship acts as a defence against climate change.

Vietnam’s Ha Tinh prince includes over 20,000 hectares of forest — home to over 2,300 plant and animal species. In just 15 years, this region has lost over 1,000 hectares of its forest land. This kind of loss has a significant impact on the region’s biodiversity.

Doughnut charts show the percentage of birds, amphibians, mammals, and vascular plants housed in global forests, visualizing their importance for biodiversity. — FSC Italy / Christian Patrick Ricci and Mirko Sotgiu; FSC Neli Doncheva; FSC / Emilio White; FSC Poland / Michal Knaflewski

The forests outside of Huong Son are now FSC Certified, with over 40 rangers patrolling the land each day. Commitments to improve forest conservation, monitoring, and ecosystem services in forests has helped the forest sequester 727,435 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere between 2015 and 2020.

This further supports the idea that FSC standards help forests thrive.

5. New AI opportunities help fight climate change

Industries are pivoting to make the most of AI for identifying trends, creating reports, and generating predictions. These are extremely valuable tools in business, and they have a valuable place in the fight against climate change, too.

AI is great for digging into data, and we have a whole planet’s worth of information on water levels, global temperatures, material harvesting, biodiversity loss, and so much more that folds into the larger picture that is climate change.

Manually parsing through this data to create accurate climate models and predictions isn’t easy, but AI can do it in minutes. And with a little expert help and redirection, improved models and analysis across climate issues is extremely valuable for scientists and decision makers.

Climate champions and world leaders are collaborating to see how machine learning can identify problems, generate solutions, and improve sustainability at scale. The Institute for Experiential AI even has an AI for Climate and Sustainability focus area to see just how much AI can do to support the climate.

It’s a relatively new and somewhat underfunded venture, but philanthropy like Bezos Earth Funds help. This organization revealed a $100 million grant to support AI development for climate initiatives.

AI considerations

While AI technology shows a lot of promise for advancing climate initiatives and research, it has its flaws. Some AI training processes, particularly large language models used with chatbots, produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. Once they’re live, maintaining AI servers also takes a lot of electricity.

Still, simpler models aren’t nearly as emission heavy, and use case matters. While some companies use AI to identify opportunities to improve supply chain sustainability, others use it to expand oil production operations.

For all of the good and bad, AI’s here to stay. And it’s exciting to see more support and research to facilitate positive change via AI.

6. Ireland reaches lowest greenhouse emissions in 30 years

Governments and organizations have been committing to climate initiatives for decades, and more of these commitments are starting to pay off over time. In 2023, Ireland accomplished its lowest greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

Ireland had previously committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions with increased renewables, reduced fossil fuels in home heating, and sustainability improvements in agriculture. 2023 emissions decreased by 6.7 per cent across almost all sectors.

Most notably, its targeted energy and agriculture sectors experienced the largest decreases:

Power generation emissions: - 21.6 per cent
Residential emissions: -7.1 per cent
Agriculture emissions: - 4.6 per cent
Transport emissions: -0.3 per cent

These are positive results for Ireland, but the fight isn’t over. Laura Burke, Director General of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said:

The data indicates a move towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the scale and pace required to meet our climate ambition of a 51 per cent reduction by 2030. However, while these are positive results for the year 2023, we are still well off track in terms of meeting EU and national 2030 targets. We need to maintain and further build momentum.

7. Renewable wind and solar energy ousts fossil fuels in EU and US

The European Union and the United States have made their own efforts to reduce emissions with increased renewable energy, and as of 2024, wind and solar sources officially outpace fossil fuels.

In the EU, wind and solar energy currently account for 30 per cent of electricity generation. While that’s just 3 points higher than the fossil fuel share, there’s also been a 17 per cent decrease in fossil fuel generation. All of this as energy demand increased by 0.7 per cent during the same period.

These changes are driven in part by the European Green Deal, which has continued to evolve over the years. The EU Commission oversees European Green Deal commitments with support from organizations such as FSC, which provides guidance for forestry sustainability. For example, FSC provided feedback on forest bioenergy as a renewable energy and opportunities to strengthen REDII Sustainability Criteria regarding this source.

The U.S. reached this milestone in the first half of 2023 by a difference of 3 terawatt-hours, with wind and solar production 252 terawatt-hours. This is largely a result of decreased coal production, which decreased 27 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

At a global scale, there are officially 8 countries that rely on renewable energy for over 90 per cent of their power. This includes Albania, Bhutan, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Netherlands.

8. The EU votes to criminalize environmental damages

Finally, the EU is putting its money where its mouth is and has voted to criminalize environmental damages. This provides an updated directive for countries to identify and prosecute serious crimes comparable to “ecocide.”

This can include significant habitat or biodiversity loss, illegal logging, and more.

The directive also updates punishments to push for harder penalties and even time in prison for environmental crimes.

Further, a European Court of Human Rights has declared that climate inaction is actually a violation of human rights.

The case specifically cites that Switzerland’s climate initiatives were inadequate, and that specific groups of people were particularly vulnerable to climate impacts like heat waves.

Not only is this a powerful move towards true, actionable climate legislation. But decisions like the EU court’s call that governments have a human rights-driven responsibility towards climate action may influence countries across Europe and the world to make a move.

Ultimately, legislation like this is promoting personal responsibility from businesses to correct actions that negatively impact the environment and human well-being. Something supported by mitigation hierarchy — a framework for businesses to correct harmful actions against the environment across their value chain.

Mitigation hierarchy follows a few key steps:

Avoid unnecessary negative environmental impacts from direct operations. For example, a construction company sourcing FSC certified lumber.
Reduce negative impacts that aren’t avoidable, like choosing a coffee roaster supplier that uses less fertiliser than other suppliers.
Restore habitats, communities, and material sources that can’t be avoided or reduced. This can include financial support, advocacy, and continued process evaluation and development.

Show support to combat climate change

There’s plenty to celebrate regarding government commitments, exciting new technologies, and corporate strategies designed to battle climate change. But a few victories doesn’t mean the fight’s over.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the bad and good news about climate change, and it’s essential to stay attentive and reject complacency.

The UN and science-based climate goals are a long way away, but vocal support and committed actions, both individually and collectively, give us a fighting chance to protect the planet and all who thrive here.

Additional resources

The United Nations is a go-to source for global climate goals, conversations, and reports on impacts and solutions. They have numerous resources, including:

Climate change reports that cover everything from warming seas to climate adaptation trends.
Environmental Programme reports, which digs deeper into the financial initiatives tied with climate action.

Government-specific resources are particularly valuable to track regional climate issues, initiatives, and adaption. Check country resources, like the U.S. Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer and EPA.

Don’t gloss over local organizations or state offices that may have more localized information and resources.