Solar grazing, tile whipping and whisky: Positive environmental stories from 2025
Do you share our anxiety about the state of the planet? As green journalists, we are all too familiar with what climate anxiety, climate doom, and even environmental existential dread feel like.
These terms all describe the same thing: the negative feelings, such as stress, fear, anger and grief, that come up when we are confronted with the reality of a warming Earth. With almost daily stories of lives lost or ruined by extreme weather, it's hard to escape the consequences of climate change.
It's easy to feel helpless and dejected. But as many experts agree, we can use some of those feelings of despair and turn them into action.
At Euronews Green, we know we play a key role in combatting climate doom. While it's our job to be truthful and accurate in our reporting and not downplay or greenwash the situation, we also want to highlight that there is always hope.
This is why, for the past three years, we've kept track of all the positive environmental news stories throughout the year. Every year we writehundreds of good news stories, from eco-innovations and green breakthroughs to climate wins and feel-good reports on nature.
We hope to continue our efforts and keep doubling our numbers each year - because surely that's a good sign of momentum.
As climate activist Tori Tsui says, "I think the beautiful thing about climate action is that everyone has a role, whatever that looks like to you".
Here are January's top positive stories - including the small and local, the silly that made us smile - and the enormous and potentially world-changing.
If you came across a great, positive story that we haven't covered, please reach out to us on Instagram or X to share your ideas.
Positive environmental stories from January 2025
How the Arctic tundra is keeping seeds safe for future generations
Tucked beyond the Arctic Circle, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault sits proudly in a former coal mine and stores fruit and vegetable seeds from all over the world.
Holding over 6,297 crop species, last year saw the highest numbers of depositing genebanks and the highest number of newcomers in the history of the vault, proving that cooperation on conserving seeds is flourishing.
How the Scottish whisky industry is inadvertently tackling overfishing
A love of the oceans inspired one man to create a sustainable alternative to Omega-3 supplements for both humans and farmed fish.
Previously, Omega-3 has relied on wild fish, which takes vital food from coastal communities. The solution also cleans up a problem within Scotland's most popular industry.
Whisky wastewater usually ends up in the ocean, but the company MiAlgae uses nutrient-rich byproducts to create dried algae powder through a giant renewably-powered fermentation process. This is then used as aquafeed for farmed fish and pet food.
Tile whipping: The eco-friendly sport taking over the Netherlands
The Dutch have created a national sport out of tile-whipping to help make the Netherlands 'climate-proof'.
Tile whipping - or 'tegelwippen' - sees residents try to remove the most paving slabs from their gardens, ensuring that urban spaces are greened and rewilded. This also eases pressure on drainage systems.
Winning communities receive a golden shovel with prizes going to the 'whipper of the month'.
How deaf educators put tricky climate change terms into sign language
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh wanted to ensure a new generation could be part of climate conversations.
This was no mean feat, but British Sign Language has now expanded its vocabulary to include terms such as greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, and sustainability.
'Keep at it': At 74, anti-whaler Paul Watson continues to fight
After being released from prison and into the care of the French government, Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group focused on marine conservation activism, spoke to Euronews Green in early January.
Watson, who began protecting whales in 1974, highlighted that very few nations still hunt whales, with Norway, Iceland and Japan the only exceptions, and is increasingly confident about the future of these gentle giants.
And so Watson should be, as Euronews Green reported on multiple sightings of the magnificent humpback whale seen by people living along the UK coast - likely due to humpback whale populations having recovered extensively over the past half a century after whaling bans.
Scientists transform waste into batteries that could power grid
Scientists discovered a way to turn previously useless industrial waste into a vital material used in batteries that could power our future.
Discovered by scientists at America's Northwestern University, the redox flow batteries use a chemical reaction to pump energy back and forth between electrolytes.
They could be an invaluable solution for energy storage on the scale of an electricity grid and help smooth out the current issue of troughs and peaks in wind and solar supply.
Tiny British island is now home to the world's most remote EV charger
The island of St Helena in the British Overseas Territory has installed the world's most remote public EV charger in its capital Jamestown.
In a trial supported by Norwegian charging company Easee and Japanese car brand Subaru, the hope is that by improving the infrastructure for electric vehicles, more people on the island will ditch their petrol and diesel-powered vehicles and adopt EVs.
Italy, Albania and UAE agree deal to share renewable energy
Three countries signed a clean energy cooperation deal that means they will share wind and solar energy across the sea.
The UAE is lending its technology and expertise to develop Albania's renewable energy. Some of the energy produced from these new technologies will then be transferred to Italy via an underwater cable across the Adriatic Sea.
Researcher fired for refusing to fly wins monetary compensation
Sticking to your morals does eventually pay off, at least for the Italian climate researcher Dr Gianluca Grimalda, who was fired by his employers for refusing to fly back from a research trip.
In a bid to follow his beliefs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding flights and instead adopting slow travel, the researcher went viral on social media when he publicly shared his story in early 2024.
Grimalda filed a lawsuit for unfair dismissal, and in January, a settlement was agreed. €75,000 of the severance payment will be donated to environmental and climate protection and climate activism.
Solar grazing: Why sheep are the perfect partner for photovoltaics
Dubbed nature's best lawnmowers, farmers in the USA are waking up to the benefits of keeping sheep on solar farms.
Known as agrivoltaics, solar farms now realise the benefits of making good use of the ground underneath solar arrays. Not only is it grazing sheep and other livestock but also growing crops, and keeping bees.
Euronews Green shares some of the European projects that have been doing this for ages - and the benefits are numerous.
Dutch court orders government to cut nitrogen pollution by 2030
A Dutch court ruled that the government was failing to address critically high levels of nitrogen oxide pollution, mostly from farming and transport, in a case brought by Greenpeace.
Nitrogen pollution degrades soils and inadvertently fertilises trees, grasslands and tolerant species, putting them at high risk.
This is a huge win as nitrogen pollution is the third most influential driver of human-caused biodiversity loss after habitat destruction and greenhouse gas emissions.
Oil and gas workers will be helped to find green jobs in the UK
The UK is helping oil and gas workers switch to green energy careers by providing them with a 'skills passport' so that people working in the fossil fuel industry can make informed decisions about their jobs and future.
Research has found that around 90 per cent of fossil fuel workers have skills that are relevant to the clean energy transition.
The UK government has announced that regional skills investments worth almost £4 million (€4.7m) will help people make the move into clean energy jobs.
Solar energy outshines coal in a first for EU energy
Solar provided more power than coal did to EU countries for the first time last year, marking a new milestone in the unstoppable rise of renewables.
The EU's electricity transition has moved faster than anyone could have hoped for, as the sunlight-soaking renewable generated 11 per cent of EU electricity in 2024, overtaking the dirtiest fossil fuel, coal, which dropped below 10 per cent.
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France 24
9 hours ago
- France 24
Greenland ice melted much faster than average in May heatwave: scientists
The Arctic region is on the frontline of global warming, heating up four times faster than the rest of the planet since 1979, according to a 2022 study in scientific journal Nature. "The melting rate of the Greenland ice sheet by, from a preliminary analysis, a factor of 17... means the Greenland ice sheet contribution to sea level rise is higher than it would have otherwise been without this heat wave," one of the authors of the report, Friederike Otto, told reporters. "Without climate change this would have been impossible," said Otto, an associate professor in climate science at the Imperial College London. The data from the May 15-21, 2025 heatwave was compared to the average ice melt for the same week during the period 1980-2010. In Iceland, the temperature exceeded 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) on May 15, unprecedented for that time of year on the subarctic island. "Temperatures over Iceland as observed this May are record-breaking, more than 13 degrees Celsius hotter than the 1991-2020 average May daily maximum temperatures," the WWA said. In May, 94 percent of Iceland's weather stations registered record temperatures, according to the country's meteorological institute. In eastern Greenland, the hottest day during the heatwave was about 3.9C warmer compared to the preindustrial climate, the WWA said. "While a heatwave that is around 20 degrees Celsius might not sound like an extreme event from the experience of most people around the world, it is a really big deal for this part of the world," Otto said. "It affects the whole world massively," she said. According to the WWA, the record highs observed in Iceland and Greenland this May could reoccur every 100 years. For Greenland's indigenous communities, the warmer temperatures and melting ice affect their ability to hunt on the ice, posing a threat to their livelihood and traditional way of life. The changes also affect infrastructure in the two countries. "In Greenland and Iceland, infrastructure is built for cold weather, meaning during a heatwave ice melt can lead to flooding and damage roads and infrastructure," the WWA said. In Greenland, the higher temperatures coupled with heavy rainfall can have numerous consequences on nature. In 2022, higher temperatures caused the permafrost to thaw, releasing iron and other metals into numerous Arctic lakes, it said. Health and hygiene can also be affected, as rural Greenlandic households often lack sewage systems.
Euronews
18 hours ago
- Euronews
Climate change made May's Arctic heatwave 3C hotter, scientists say
'People often think of countries like India, Italy and the US when we talk about climate change and heatwaves,' says Dr Sarah Kew, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. But, as a new study from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group shows, 'even cold climate countries are experiencing unprecedented temperatures.' A record-breaking heatwave in Iceland and Greenland last month was made around 3°C hotter due to human-caused climate change, the group of researchers has found. On 15 May, the Egilsstaðir Airport station in Iceland recorded 26.6°C, a new national record for the month. Just days later, on 19 May, the Ittoqqortoormiit station in eastern Greenland reported 14.3°C, well above the monthly average of daily maximum temperatures of 0.8°C. 'To some, an increase of 3°C might not sound like much, but it contributed to a massive loss of ice in Greenland,' adds Dr Kew, one of 18 global researchers behind the new WWA study. The climate change-driven heat from 15-21 May corresponded with around 17 times higher than average Greenland ice sheetmelting, according to preliminary analysis from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US. 'In the Arctic, local populations have built communities on weather conditions that have been stable for centuries,' says Maja Vahlberg, Technical Advisor at Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. 'However, heatwaves like these signal emerging risks in Greenland and Iceland that are warming much faster than other regions.' The Arctic has warmed at a rate more than double the global average. This phenomenon, known as arctic amplification, is largely driven by melting sea ice: as the ice vanishes, it is replaced by an expanding area of dark ocean water that absorbs sunlight instead of reflecting it. 'Inuit communities face growing threats to traditional ways of life, while people in Iceland with existing health conditions are increasingly vulnerable to rising heat,' adds Vahlberg. Although Iceland experiences very low rates of heat-related deaths compared to countries in southern Europe, the heatwave may have impacted people with underlying health conditions before they had time to acclimatise. Warnings of sunburn and softened roads in Iceland highlight how cold-climate countries are beginning to experience new climate risks that can catch people off guard, the researchers say. Sea ice loss is also impacting Inuit Indigenous communities, who make up 90 per cent of the population in Greenland. Reliable sea ice is vital for travel, but thinning ice is creating unstable conditions that cut off access to traditional hunting grounds. The loss of sea ice has also seen a rapid decline in the number of sled dogs in Greenland, which have been used by Inuit groups for thousands of years. An Arctic heatwave might still seem like an anomaly, but such events are becoming increasingly common. 'In recent years, my colleagues and I in the Climate Group at the Icelandic Meteorological Office have noticed unusual weather extremes, such as rainfall events that far exceed in rainfall duration and amount, anything expected based on prior data,' says Dr Halldór Björnsson, group leader at the Icelandic Met Office. 'In short the old statistics do not apply.' May's heatwave broke records even in weather stations going back more than a century - including in Stykkisholmur, for example, where there is reliable data for more than 174 years. Dr Björnsson says the event was the largest May heat they've ever seen, with 94 per cent of weather stations setting new temperature records. 'What we are witnessing is not just an isolated event, but a change in weather statistics,' she says. If greenhouse gas emissions continue on their predicted course, and warming reaches 2.6°C by 2100, heatwaves are set to become a further 2°C more intense in Iceland. For Greenland, the scientists analysed data from a weather station in the eastern part of the country. They found the hottest single day in May was about 3.9°C warmer than it would have been in the preindustrial climate. While this analysis did not include climate models, the scientists say it's likely that almost all of the increase was due to climate change. 'What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic,' warns Dr Friederike Otto, Associate Professor in Climate Science at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. 'The unusual heat would have accelerated ice melt and contributed to sea level rise, which is threatening the survival of communities on small islands, like Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu, as well as Indigenous peoples such as the Inuit.' Greenland loses an average of 43 billion tonnes of ice per year, and a growing body of evidence suggests that continued warming could push the country past a tipping point where the melting of the ice sheet becomes irreversible. A recent study has warned that even 1.5°C of warming could trigger the loss of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, potentially causing several metres of sea level rise over the coming centuries, which would threaten the existence of low-lying islands around the world. Another potential tipping point could have concerning consequences for Europe. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is known to slow down the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a vast ocean current that could weaken or collapse with further ice melt, potentially disrupting global climate patterns, causing severe weather changes worldwide and plunging Europe into a deep freeze. 'We know exactly what is causing the warming and the melting - the burning of oil, gas and coal. The good news is we can stop extreme heat from getting worse and worse, which means shifting away from fossil fuels,' adds Dr Otto. 'That does not require magic. We have the know-how and technology needed, but it does require recognising that human rights are for all, not just the rich and powerful.' French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off the United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC) in Nice yesterday with a speech calling on world leaders to unite for ocean protection. But there was one notable absence from the address, according to campaigners: fossil fuels. The global expansion of offshore and coastal oil and gas development poses profound threats to marine ecosystems, as underscored by a new report from Earth Insight, a data analytics company that tracks fossil fuel and mining activities around the world. 'This glaring omission demonstrates that the impacts of fossil fuel extraction on marine biodiversity and coastal communities continue to be overlooked,' says Tyson Miller, Executive Director at Earth Insight. 'France has an opportunity to seize this historic moment and show leadership once again, as it did in 2015 with the Paris Agreement, by calling on countries to end the expansion of offshore and coastal fossil fuel activities.' A major focus of this third UNOC is the ratification of a High Seas Treaty, which will allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters for the first time. Even at the UN climate summit last year in Baku (COP29), fossil fuels were scarcely addressed in key documents, despite their usage being the primary cause of the climate crisis. Burning fossil fuels is placing a huge burden on oceans, which absorb the excess heat, leading to a slew of dangerous consequences, from killing coral reefs to fuelling more hurricanes. The new report from Earth Insight exposes the vast physical presence of fossil fuel infrastructure in oceans and the destruction and pollution caused by its encroachment. Much of this expansion is taking place in 'frontier regions' - underexplored areas with significant potential for oil, gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development. Looking at 11 case studies from around the world, the analysts find that oil and gas blocks cover over 2.7 million km2 in these frontier regions - an area about the size of Argentina. Moreover, 100,000 km2 of these blocks overlap with protected areas, leaving 19 per cent of coastal and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) at risk across the frontier regions. Coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangroves are some of the vital ecosystems being threatened by fossil fuel companies. Approximately 63 per cent of seagrass meadows in the frontier case studies - from Barbados to Senegal - are overlapped by oil and gas blocks, the study warns. The researchers propose a range of solutions to tackle the environmental and social harm caused by fossil fuel extraction, starting with stopping expansion in environmentally sensitive regions and removing unassigned oil and gas blocks. International treaties - like the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty - should be strengthened to prohibit new coastal and offshore oil and gas expansion, they say. This is where international conferences like UNOC could be used to galvanise action.
France 24
02-06-2025
- France 24
Oceans feel the heat from human climate pollution
But this crucial ally has developed alarming symptoms of stress -- heatwaves, loss of marine life, rising sea levels, falling oxygen levels and acidification caused by the uptake of excess carbon dioxide. These effects risk not just the health of the ocean but the entire planet. Heating up By absorbing more than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases, "oceans are warming faster and faster", said Angelique Melet, an oceanographer at the European Mercator Ocean monitor. The UN's IPCC climate expert panel has said the rate of ocean warming -- and therefore its heat uptake -- has more than doubled since 1993. Average sea surface temperatures reached new records in 2023 and 2024. Despite a respite at the start of 2025, temperatures remain at historic highs, according to data from the Europe Union's Copernicus climate monitor. The Mediterranean has set a new temperature record in each of the past three years and is one of the basins most affected, along with the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, said Thibault Guinaldo, of France's CEMS research centre. Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency, become longer lasting and more intense, and affect a wider area, the IPCC said in its special oceans report. Warmer seas can make storms more violent, feeding them with heat and evaporated water. The heating water can also be devastating for species, especially corals and seagrass beds, which are unable to migrate. For corals, between 70 percent and 90 percent are expected to be lost this century if the world reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to pre-industrial levels. Scientists expect that threshold -- the more ambitious goal of the Paris climate deal -- to be breached in the early 2030s or even before. Relentless rise When a liquid or gas warms up, it expands and takes up more space. In the case of the oceans, this thermal expansion combines with the slow but irreversible melting of the world's ice caps and mountain glaciers to lift the world's seas. The pace at which global oceans are rising has doubled in three decades and if current trends continue it will double again by 2100 to about one centimetre per year, according to recent research. Around 230 million people worldwide live less than a metre above sea level, vulnerable to increasing threats from floods and storms. "Ocean warming, like sea-level rise, has become an inescapable process on the scale of our lives, but also over several centuries," said Melet. "But if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will reduce the rate and magnitude of the damage, and gain time for adaptation". More acidity, less oxygen The ocean not only stores heat, it has also taken up 20 to 30 percent of all humans' carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s, according to the IPCC, causing the waters to become more acidic. Acidification weakens corals and makes it harder for shellfish and the skeletons of crustaceans and certain plankton to calcify. "Another key indicator is oxygen concentration, which is obviously important for marine life," said Melet. Oxygen loss is due to a complex set of causes including those linked to warming waters. Reduced sea ice Combined Arctic and Antarctic sea ice cover -- frozen ocean water that floats on the surface -- plunged to a record low in mid-February, more than a million square miles below the pre-2010 average. This becomes a vicious circle, with less sea ice allowing more solar energy to reach and warm the water, leading to more ice melting. This feeds the phenomenon of "polar amplification" that makes global warming faster and more intense at the poles, said Guinaldo. © 2025 AFP
