7 good things humanity did to combat climate change in 2024

Advocating for climate change action can sometimes feel like pushing a huge boulder up a hill. News headlines are filled with breaking climate records, while governments, including Australia’s, are still approving new fossil fuel developments. Advertisements and social media feeds proliferate greenwashing and misinformation.

But the doom and gloom can mean we ignore just how far up the hill we’ve managed to climb.

This is why I’ve curated a list of seven positive climate stories from 2024, one from each of the world’s seven continents.

South America

The Amazon Rainforest is home to millions of species, stores the equivalent of 15–20 years’ worth of global CO₂ emissions (that’s between 150 and 200 billion tonnes), and contributes to regional rainfall.

Massive deforestation threatens this vital biome, but in January 2024 the BBC reported that deforestation in the Amazon was 50 per cent less in 2023 compared to the previous year.

This follows the Brazilian President’s pledge to end deforestation by 2030. While deforestation rates in the Amazon are still too high (about six times the size of New York City in 2023), the trend is now heading in the right direction.

Environment

Hope and courage in the climate crisis

Europe

The UK, the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution and anthropogenic climate change itself, closed its final coal power plant in October.

Britain announced its plan to end coal power in 2015 when coal provided 30 per cent of the country’s energy. Between January and October 2024, wind power was the largest source of energy for the UK for seven out of ten months, providing about 25 to 30 per cent of the total energy supply.

North America

While the prospect of a second Trump presidency may have tempered many people’s hopes for drastic climate action, it’s not all bad news from the US.

Private investment into clean energy and electric vehicles was at a record-breaking $US 71 billion in the first quarter of 2024 – that’s around 40 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2023.

The largest portion of this investment ($US 31 billion) was from retail (i.e. people buying electric cars, solar panels, energy storage and heat pumps for their homes).

Even if the incoming president denies the reality of climate change, US citizens are getting on with the job of transitioning to renewable energy themselves.

Asia

Asia is home to two of the three largest CO₂ emitters in our modern world: China and India. So, climate policies from Asia can have a big impact on the rest of the globe.

In positive news out of India this year, coal is no longer the country’s biggest source of energy and the share of power provided by coal dropped below 50 per cent for the first time since the 1960s.

Environment

Tougher environmental policies can create economic winners

While coal still dominates India’s current power supply, the growth in electricity capacity is coming predominantly from solar.

India’s solar PV exports are skyrocketing, with their value increasing by 23 times in just two years from 2022 to 2024. India is rapidly becoming a solar powerhouse.

Africa

The need for a just transition is exemplified in Africa.

While we need to end fossil fuel emissions to stop climate change, 43 per cent of Africa’s population (600 million people) don’t have access to electricity.

So, it’s important that the transition to renewable energy doesn’t exacerbate existing inequalities.

Nigeria is the country with the lowest access to electricity in the world. It’s not uncommon for women to give birth in the light of kerosene lamps. But Nigerian women are tackling both energy and gender inequalities at once with two fantastic initiatives.

Green energy entrepreneur Yetunde Fadeyi founded the non-profit Renewable Energy and Sustainability (REES) which, as of March 2024, has provided solar energy to more than 6,000 of the poorest Nigerians.

Another Nigerian NGO, Solar Sister, trains rural women to become clean energy entrepreneurs, providing economic empowerment for women and bringing clean energy to rural communities.

Sciences & Technology

Women’s participation is crucial to fight climate change

Antarctica

When we think of climate change impacts, collapsing ice shelves may come to mind. The melting of the world’s most remote continent is a sobering reminder of humanity’s far-reaching fingerprint on the planet.

But Antarctica also serves as evidence that environmental treaties can work.

In response to the growing ozone hole above Antarctica, world leaders agreed to phase out substances that deplete the ozone layer via the Montreal Protocol in 1987. A new study, published in June 2024, found that ozone-depleting emissions of hydrochlorofluorocarbon peaked about five years earlier than predicted.

The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that the ozone hole may fully recover by 2066. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons are also greenhouse gases, so this is good news for climate change too.

Oceania

Australia is the second largest coal exporter in the world, making us a key enabler of global fossil fuel emissions.

In positive news, Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, announced in August 2024 that they will no longer lend money to fossil fuel companies that do not align with the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming below 2°C.

Additionally, the 2024 Clean Energy Australia Report states that renewables made up 40 per cent of Australia’s electricity supply, which is about 10 per cent higher than the previous year. Rooftop solar was the biggest driver of this increase.

While the transition away from fossil fuels can feel slower than continental drift, we are seeing exponential growth in renewable energy.

Sciences & Technology

What could Australia’s clean energy future look like?

It’s vital that we ramp up these efforts and not become defeatist in the face of negative news.

So keep pushing the boulder up the hill by lobbying your local politicians, being climate conscious with your spending, swapping beef and lamb for climate-friendly meals, walking or riding short distances instead of driving, and learning to recognise greenwashing.

Keep doing your part – it does make a difference.