What went right this week: progress on poverty, plus more

Some three million Indonesians have been lifted out of poverty in the last decade, new data suggests. 

The figures from Statistics Indonesia show that the poverty rate in Indonesia is now 9%, an historic low. However, it’s higher than the government’s target to bring the poverty rate down to 7%. 

While the figures were broadly welcomed, critics claim that the rate fell due largely to social assistance, such as cash handouts, rather than gains in overall living standards. Nonetheless, millions of Indonesians are living more comfortably than before. 

According to the World Bank, the number of people living in extreme poverty globally fell from 38% in 1990 to 8.4% in 2019, though the pandemic slowed progress.

“I think extreme poverty could pretty much disappear by 2050,” Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, told Positive News. “We’ll need global cooperation in trade, investment, migration and aid. It’s also going to involve cash transfers and safety nets to make sure no one is left behind.”

Image: Tyler Morgan

China’s reliance on coal has long been used by western politicians to justify domestic fossil fuel projects. This week came further research to undermine this dubious argument. 

A report by the thinktank Global Energy Monitor revealed that almost two-thirds of major wind and solar project under construction globally are in China. The country’s booming renewables sector, it added, has squeezed coal’s share of the energy mix to new lows.

China’s progress puts the global goal to triple green energy capacity by the end of 2030 “well within reach”, the report’s authors said. 

“China still needs to turn the massive renewables build-up into power generation, replace fossil fuels, and reach the ‘tipping point’ so as to peak its carbon emissions as early as possible,” they added. Some analysts believe that China’s emissions may have already peaked.

Image: Li Yang

It has among the highest per capita emissions in the whole of the EU, but not for much longer perhaps – new data shows that Ireland shrunk its carbon footprint significantly in 2023. 

Figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed a 6.8% decline in the country’s emissions in 2023. This came despite economic growth, a rising population and agricultural expansion. 

Emissions from most sectors shrank, particularly agriculture, which recorded a 4.6% contraction thanks to a decline in nitrogen fertiliser use. Despite the good news, the EPA said that Ireland is “still well off track” when it comes to its target of halving emissions by 2030. 

Image: Megan Johnston

The UK went to the polls last week, electing its most diverse parliament to date. 

Figures show that women now make up 40.5% of the House of Commons, compared with 35% at the end of the last parliament. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s new cabinet is also the most gender-equal, with women making up 12 out of 26 positions. 

Further analysis by the British Future thinktank showed that a record 90 minority ethnic MPs were elected last week, an increase of 24. Meanwhile, the LGBTQ+ media outlet, Pink News, noted: “Labour’s 50 out LGBTQ+ MPs represent by far the largest party cohort of any parliament, anywhere in the world.” 

Image: Transport secretary Louise Hague. Credit: Lauren Hurley

A ground-breaking new treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   

Donanemab works by clearing the amyloid protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Trials suggest it can slow cognitive decline, but not halt the disease. It’s the third such drug to be approved in the US. 

Fiona Carragher, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, a UK charity, said the FDA’s approval marked “another step forward in the fight against dementia”. However, she warned that the drug still had many regulatory hurdles to pass in the UK, meaning it could be some time before it’s available there. 

“Donanemab is just one of nearly 130 potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease being tested in trials, so it’s paramount we ramp up preparation for their arrival and roll-out,” she said. 

Image: Kampus Production/Pexels

A museum that promotes creativity in children while engaging with one of London’s most deprived communities has been crowned the UK’s ‘museum of the year’.   

As well as bragging rights, the Young V&A – formerly the Museum of Childhood – won £120,000, which is the single biggest museum prize in the world.  

The award is run by the charity Art Fund. Its director Jenny Waldman described the Young V&A as “the world’s most joyful museum”, and said it had “completely reimagined” the museum concept.  

The Young V&A’s director Helen Charman said: “This win is a clarion call for the vital role of creativity, culture and play in children’s lives when so many opportunities have been taken away through the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing under-investment in creative education nationally.”

Charman said the prize money would be invested in the museum’s community arts programme, helping it “work with some of the country’s most deprived children”. 

Image: David Parry/V&A

It’s one of the cheapest sources of electricity, yet onshore wind has been effectively banned in England for years. Not anymore. This week, the UK’s incoming Labour government lifted what it described as “absurd” restrictions on onshore wind. 

The move follows a recent study which found that using less than 3% of England’s land for wind and solar could produce enough electricity to power every household in the country twice over. The research was conducted by the charity Friends of the Earth, and the University of Exeter. 

The previous UK government had been criticised for rowing back on green policies. Labour’s promise to show greater climate leadership has been welcomed by environmental groups.    

“The onshore wind ban has been in place for nine years. We’ve been in government for 72 hours, we’ve lifted it,” said Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy security and net zero. “That’s the pace we’re going to move at.”

Image: Mon Jester

White storks could soon be soaring over London again following the successful reintroduction of the birds to southern England. 

Storks were once common in the UK, but hunting and habitat loss led to their extinction in the 15th century. In 2016, however, the birds were reintroduced to Sussex, where they have established a foothold thanks to efforts to restore their wetland habitat. 

Now, Citizen Zoo, a charity, is looking to reintroduce them to Greater London, where wetlands have also been restored. The city’s lofty buildings could provide ideal nesting sites for the birds, which famously live atop structures in Marrakech, Morocco. 

“We know we have habitat here, and there’s a lot of wetland restoration occurring across Greater London,” Elliot Newton, co-founder of Citizen Zoo, told the Guardian. “How amazing would it be if white storks nested in St James’s Park, beside Buckingham Palace, as a symbol of ecological recovery in the capital?”

Image: David Dixon

Swathes of wildflowers bloomed along the north Devon coast in England this week following an ambitious project to restore the county’s meadows.  

A 90-hecatre area – equivalent to around 197 football pitches – is now flourishing with flowers, grasses, and insects just 18 months after seeds were sown.

The project was led by the National Trust, a conservation charity, which aims to restore meadows along 70 miles of the English coast. 

Ben McCarthy, the trust’s head of restoration ecology, said: “Bringing hay meadows back will contribute to our ambitions to create more nature-rich spaces and robust habitats for wildlife, and more space for people to connect to it.”

Image: James Dobson/National Trust

“I wouldn’t say I’m proud of my wrinkles, but I had a really good time making them.”

Those are the words of model Kate Groombridge (pictured), who’s returned to her profession aged 42 amid rising demand for natural, unretouched images of more mature women.

Groombridge is part of a growing movement to embrace and reclaim ageing, as we reported on this week. Read the full story here.

Image: Lucy Kinnen
Main image: Image: David Parry/V&A