50 Positive Environment Stories in 2016...
So, it turns out 2016 wasn’t all bad…could you imagine living in a world where giant strides were made to ban the ivory trade, global carbon emissions have stopped growing and more than 3.5 million square km of our oceans were protected? Well that’s what we’ve seen in 2016.
1. Let’s start with the Paris Agreement. In October 55 countries ratified the deal that saw a global agreement to reduce carbon emissions come into force.
2. We might have flatlined with global carbon emissions. Data from the Global Carbon Project has shown that emissions have not risen over the last three years.
3.The US and Canada formed a partnership that banned oil drilling from large parts of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans indefinitely.
4. Solar energy generated more power than coal in the UK.
5. Portugal ran entirely on renewable energy for 4 consecutive days.
6. Ok, Portugal did well, but Costa Rica managed 100 days in a row on just renewable energy and plans to run entirely on renewables in the near future.
7. Leonardo DiCaprio finally got his Oscar, and used his acceptance speech to highlight the urgent need for global action to tackle climate change #legend.
8. France became the first country in the world to ban disposable plastic cups and cutlery – bye bye single use plastics?
9. Staying with plastics…the UK government announced plans to ban microbeads in cosmetics and cleaning products by 2017.
10. England’s plastic bag charge led to an 85% reduction in bag use in the first 6 months – putting that into figures means we have already seen a cut from 7 billion to 500,000…
11. Arabian sand cats were spotted for the first time in 10 years in 2015 in the United Arab Emirates and this news went viral in 2016 as Arabian sand cats are blooming cute (seriously Google them).
12. At the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, delegates passed a motion to ban ALL domestic ivory markets. Hooray.
13. China announced that it was going to ban the ivory trade – the single biggest market, which conservationists have declared as a game changer for elephant conservation.
14. Check out the conservation charity Tusk - www.tusk.org - they are amazing and we are working with them to deliver the Lewa Green Square Mile project in 2017.
15. All 8 species of pangolin – the world’s most trafficked mammal – gained greater protection status at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in Johannesburg, South Africa.
16. One of our favourite species (as you might have gathered if you follow our www.instagram.com/ourworldourchoice) the humpback whale were taken off the endangered species list after having made a stunning recovery in the last 46 years.
17. The world’s tallest tree was discovered in Sabah, a state in Malaysian Borneo, which somehow reached an incredible 94.1 meters.
18. 800,000 volunteers planted 50 millions trees in Allahabad, India, in just a single day. That’s some serious reforestation.
19. Speaking of forests…Norway became the first country to commit to ZERO deforestation.
20. Wild tiger populations increased for the first time in 50 years.
21. Scientists discovered that a 5 meter long Greenland shark was the oldest living vertebrate found on our planet – its minimum age was 272 years, whilst experts believe it is closer to 400 years.
22. The world’s largest protected area for snow leopards was set up on Mongolia.
23. Another step in the right direction, as the giant panda was downgraded from endangered to vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.
24. Canada protected 85% of the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforests in British Columbia, the brilliantly named Great Bear Rainforest.
25. More of our planet’s oceans are protected today than ever before – more than 20 countries pledged more than $5.3 billion for ocean conservation, creating 40 new marine sanctuaries, which covered close to 3.5 million square km.
26. One of which was the agreement to create the world’s largest marine protected area, a mere 1.55 million square km of ocean in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica.
27. In August, President Barack Obama expanded the current world’s largest protected area, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii (try saying the name of that 10 times fast).
28. Mexico announced that it would create 4 new biological reserves and protect 5 others areas that would protect 160 million acres of its environment.
29. Scientists discovered a species of fish that can breathe through primitive lungs. A fish with lungs?! It was a new species of giant arapaima, in the Amazon.
30. The UK announced it would ban commercial fishing from a million square km of ocean as it created a marine protected area around four islands in the Pacific and Atlantic.
31. A new legal commitment has come into force aimed to curtail illegal fishing (the Port State Measures Agreement), which is estimated to be worth $23.5 billion annually and account for up to 20% of fish caught in our oceans.
32. Sir David Attenborough returned to our screens with Planet Earth II – inspiring a new generation of conservationists (more young people watched this series than X Factor – more please BBC).
33. There was that incredible scene where racer snakes chased newborn iguanas in the Galapagos. Our jaws still need to be picked up off the floor after that.
34. Keeping with the world’s most famous and influential naturalist, Sir David Attenborough turned 90 and continues to be awesome.
35. The world’s largest beach clean was conducted in Mumbai, India where more than 4,000 tonnes of rubbish was removed. Scary.
36. Saiga antelope number are once again on the rise – this species hit the news in 2015 when 134,000 died in just 2 weeks.
37. Nepal has achieved 2 years in a row without any reported incidents of rhino poaching.
38. A rare Rothchild’s giraffe was born on Boxing Day at Chester Zoo, there are fewer that 1,600 in the wild.
39. In England, beavers are back living in the River Otter, and otters are back living in the River Trent.
40. On British beaches the number of plastic bags found has almost halved since the introduction of the 5 pence charge (see entry no10).
41. The UK created 23 new marine protected areas.
42. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has almost fully recovered from the worst coral bleaching event known in recent history.
43. For the first time, installation of new renewable electric-generating capacity outpaced growth in fossil-fuel generating capacity.
44. Walruses were found using birds as toys for the first time by scientists.
45. Ecuador created a marine protected area the size of Belgium around the Galapagos.
46. The hunting of brown bears, wolves, lync and wild cat was banned in Romania.
47. Thresher sharks were given more protection – but did you know that there are three species of this shark?
48. A new species of pit viper was found living in a Costa Rican cloud forest, which kills prey with a neurotoxin also used by rattlesnakes – scientists also discovered a new species of ant that looked like a dragon from Game of Thrones.
49. We saw two of the UK’s national parks increase in size, the Yorkshire Dales grew by 24%, whilst the Lake District increased by 3% - a total of 188 square miles.
50. A story about a penguin who travels 5,000 miles every year to visit the man who saved him from death went viral. Joao Pereira de Souza a 71-year-old retired bricklayer, found Dindim off the coast of Rio de Janiero covered in oil and starving on a beach.
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