In a year-end selection published on December 22, 2025, Positive News highlighted progress in conservation, clean energy, health and public life. The 25 stories range from measured trends and local recoveries to early research, policy proposals and a fragile ceasefire. They are a curated selection—not a complete account of the year—and none means the underlying problem is solved.
Nature and the environment
1. The high seas treaty passed a ratification threshold
Positive News reported that ratifications had passed the threshold needed for the Global Ocean Treaty, with entry into force expected in 2026. That was a significant step toward a framework for protecting ocean areas beyond national waters; it was not proof that protections were already in place. The report’s expectation should not be read as an update on the treaty’s later status.
2. Biodiversity finance gained a target
At COP16, countries agreed to mobilize at least $200 billion a year by 2030 for biodiversity, including in developing countries, according to Positive News. A funding target can help direct attention and resources, but money still has to be raised and delivered. The same roundup warned that global biodiversity goals could be missed.
3. Wildlife recovery appeared in distinct local cases
The roundup pointed to the green turtle’s improved conservation status, a breeding milestone for Guam kingfishers, insect conservation in England, trout returning to cleaner Swedish rivers and cranes in Scotland. Each is encouraging in its own setting; none is evidence that biodiversity loss has ended worldwide.
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4. Forest loss slowed, but did not stop
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2025 that annual deforestation averaged 10.9 million hectares in 2015–2025, down from 17.6 million hectares in 1990–2000. The decline is meaningful, but millions of hectares were still lost each year, and the FAO said forests remain under pressure.
5. New protected areas and proposals added momentum
Positive News listed new marine reserves and land-protection proposals, including a plan for a 4,600-square-kilometre Great Koala National Park in New South Wales. A proposed park is not the same as a completed legal designation, and the roundup said the global goal of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 remained off track.
Climate and energy
6. Renewables overtook coal in global electricity generation
Ember’s 2026 review of 2025 generation provides a useful correction to the year-end roundup’s shorthand: renewables as a whole supplied 34% of global electricity, compared with coal’s 33%. Wind and solar together supplied 17%, not more than coal. Fossil fuels still generated 57% of electricity, so this was a shift in the power mix, not the end of fossil-fuel dependence.
7. Countries began organizing a fossil-fuel transition roadmap
The roundup described a coalition of countries planning a roadmap and conference on a just transition away from fossil fuels. The development was a commitment to a process, not evidence that fossil-fuel use had already ended or that the transition was complete.
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8. The International Court of Justice issued a climate advisory opinion
Positive News highlighted the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on states’ climate obligations and the potential implications for accountability. An advisory opinion can clarify legal principles, but it is not itself a binding judgment against a particular country.
9. China’s clean-energy growth coincided with a reported emissions dip
The roundup cited a recent reported decline in China’s emissions alongside rapid renewable-energy deployment, while noting that global emissions were still projected to rise. A short-term national dip is not enough to establish a durable peak; the time window and underlying source matter when interpreting the claim.
10. Denmark announced a climate target and proposed deepfake legislation
Positive News reported a new Danish emissions target and proposed legislation addressing the use of people’s likenesses in deepfakes. A target sets an ambition, while proposed legislation still has to proceed through the lawmaking process; neither should be described as an achieved outcome.
11. Battery-electric cars dominated Norway’s new-car sales
According to the figures cited by Positive News, battery-electric vehicles made up 88.9% of new cars sold in Norway in 2024. That is a share of new sales, not the share of every car on the road. Norway’s deputy transport minister Cecilie Knibe Kroglund credited a predictable package of incentives over time, rather than a single measure.
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Science and health
12. Experimental treatments offered hope for serious conditions
The roundup highlighted early results involving gene therapy for genetic hearing loss, retinal implants for age-related macular degeneration, treatment for blood cancers in children and work on Huntington’s disease. These reports concern different conditions and interventions, often at an early or specialized stage. They do not establish a guaranteed benefit, routine availability or a basis for self-treatment.
13. Other medical advances reached different stages of care
Positive News also covered complex brain-tumour surgery, gene therapy affecting children’s vision, cancer-drug combinations, stroke diagnosis, asthma treatment and mitochondrial-donation IVF. These developments are not interchangeable: some involve research, some clinical practice, and access or approval can vary by treatment and country.
14. Cancer survival in England and Wales improved over five decades
Cancer Research UK reported that survival rates doubled over the 50 years covered by its 1973–2023 data, as summarized by Positive News. The improvement reflects long-term progress, not a uniform outlook for every cancer or patient; the organization also warned that people continue to face delayed diagnoses.
15. Diagnostic research explored new ways to assess cancer
The roundup described a bowel-cancer risk technique reported as 90% accurate, alongside tumour research, a rapid brain-tumour test and blood tests in development. The 90% figure belongs to that specific technique and reported endpoint; it is not a measure of cancer tests generally, and research-stage tools are not automatically available in clinics.
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16. Uganda ended a reported Ebola outbreak
Ugandan health authorities declared an outbreak over in May 2025 after 14 reported cases and four deaths, according to the year-end roundup. The response was a public-health success in a specific outbreak, not evidence that Ebola risk has been eliminated.
17. Vaccination continued to prevent disease and save lives
The World Health Organization’s 2025 retrospective said measles vaccination had saved nearly 59 million lives since 2000. Positive News also pointed to progress against polio, the benefits of vaccination, HPV vaccination and malaria- and trachoma-free certifications. These gains coexist with continuing disease-control challenges and do not mean every population is protected.
18. A population study found better functional capacity among older adults
Positive News summarized an analysis using English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data: a 68-year-old born in 1950 had a similar measured functional capacity to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier. This is a population-level comparison of functional capacity, not a claim that all 70-year-olds are as healthy as all 60-year-olds or that lifespans are equivalent.
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19. A Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement created an opening
The roundup described an October 2025 agreement as fragile, with reported violations and unresolved next steps. It was a reason for cautious hope, not a settled peace; the human consequences and uncertainty remained central to the story.
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20. More jurisdictions restricted phones in schools
Positive News covered restrictions in Australia and Florida, a South Korean school-phone ban and research comparing classroom outcomes. Laws and school policies differ, and the studies do not settle every question about children’s technology use. The development is best understood as a growing policy response to concerns about attention and learning, not a universal finding about all phone use.
21. Rights-related legal and political changes took different forms
The roundup included marriage-equality developments in Liechtenstein and Thailand, a U.S. Supreme Court action, a planned repeal of an old rough-sleeping law in England and Wales, UK employment legislation and Syria marking Human Rights Day. These events had different jurisdictions and legal statuses; a court action, an enacted law, a plan and a public observance are not the same kind of change. They also do not mean rights concerns have disappeared.
22. Social protection expanded as poverty fell in several countries
Positive News cited a World Bank report on expanded access to social protection and national statistics showing poverty reductions in Mexico, Bangladesh and Iraq. Because the measures, sources and periods differ, the country figures should not be combined into one comparable global trend.
23. Crime measures showed declines in several places
The roundup pointed to preliminary U.S. crime tracking, FBI historical data, Brazil’s longer-run murder-rate change and London crime figures. These are separate datasets with different periods and definitions. Preliminary estimates should not be presented as finalized national statistics, and a decline in one measure or location does not establish a universal crime trend.
24. Ireland announced that its basic income scheme for artists would become permanent
Positive News reported the Irish government’s announcement and described the pilot: participating artists received €325 per week, more than 2,000 took part, and an independent study estimated €100 million in social and economic benefits. The stipend and participant count describe the pilot; the €100 million is an estimate of benefits, not a direct cash return or a guaranteed result of making the scheme permanent.
25. Cities made progress on access, air quality, safety and cycling
The roundup assembled different local stories: swimming in the Seine and Chicago River, Paris pollution changes, London’s clean-air zone, Helsinki’s road-safety record, Chattanooga’s park-city designation and Utrecht’s cycling recognition. Each points to a city-specific effort or result. No single example establishes that all urban waterways are safe, all pollution is falling or all cities have become more liveable.
How to read the year’s good news
The 25 items are not all the same kind of evidence. Some describe measured changes, such as the FAO’s forest-loss trend and Ember’s electricity figures. Others are local examples, early medical research, policy proposals or agreements whose implementation remained uncertain. Positive News’s roundup is useful as a map of developments worth noticing, provided those distinctions—and the problems still in view—stay attached to the stories.
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