- Pathfinder: Uplifting Climate Stories
- Posts
- 2022's Uplifting Climate Stories
2022's Uplifting Climate Stories
To end the year on a climate-positive note, we’ve curated a list of 2022’s most uplifting climate stories. Let's get inspired to act!
Do you know what’s better than sharing uplifting climate stories from the past week? Bringing together uplifting climate stories from the entire year! If you ask me, 2022 was the year of the climate, as climate action took the global stage like never before.
That’s why we’ve curated a collection of the biggest, most uplifting climate stories of 2022 in this special edition of Pathfinder to inspire your climate activism in 2023. I've summarized our favorite story in each section - but don't let that be the end of your exploration. Read on to learn 90 reasons why experts are optimistic about addressing the climate crisis.
Buildings & Industry 🏗️
Researchers harness algae to ‘grow’ construction cement | AP News ➡️ Cement is in our buildings, on our sidewalks, and in our factories, so it’s no wonder the industry as a whole is responsible for approximately 8% of total global emissions. Finding ways to decarbonize the cement industry will help just about every other industry decarbonize as well.
New MIT passive cooling system works without electricity | Inhabitat
This new apartment building in Amsterdam is new housing for wildlife, not just humans | Fast Company
A startup is using recycled plastic to 3D print prefab tiny homes | Business Insider
More than recycling: the six stages of a product’s environmental life cycle | National Geographic
Canada’s construction industry striving to build on sustainable solutions | The Globe and Mail
Cruz Foam’s chitin-based packaging brings in $18M as industries scramble to go green | TechCrunch
Carbone & Methane 🫧
Carbon removal is coming to fossil fuel country. Can it bring jobs and climate action? | Inside Climate Action. ➡️ We’ve seen how devastating the coal industry leaving Appalachian communities has been, which is why we need a just transition. We can’t just leave fossil fuel communities behind. They must be part of our clean energy future.
Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey launch advance market commitment to buy $925M of carbon removal by 2030 | Frontier Climate
Beijing is finally tackling its air pollution problem | The New York Times
Long a climate laggard, Ireland lays path to cut emissions in half by 2030 | Yale E360
Nations agree to curb emissions from flying by 2050 | The New York Times
Cryptocurrency ethereum plans to cut carbon emissions by 99% with upgrade | The Guardian
‘Timber cities’ might help decarbonize the world | Inside Climate News
New Wyoming carbon capture project will eliminate 5 million tons of CO2 per year | Good News Network
Climate Justice ⚖️
In a first, EPA will test southern Puerto Rico air and water | Grist ➡️ Climate justice stories are always bittersweet. Puerto Rico should never have had to fight this hard to test for groundwater contamination after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, however, this proves that banding together with your community can absolutely lead to change.
US to Pay Millions to Move Tribes Threatened by Climate Change | The New York Times
It’s been decades since toxic dust rules for mines have improved. Lawmakers are taking notice. | LPM
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard gives away company | The Washington Post
EPA finally calls out environmental racism in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley | Grist
With renewables, Native communities chart a path to energy sovereignty | Canary Media
Indigenous leaders seek global pact to preserve 80% of Amazon forest | Context
Energy ⚡
Energy storage wins a long-sought victory with Inflation Reduction Act | Canary Media ➡️ The Inflation Reduction Act has unlocked the U.S.’ potential to transition to clean energy, and it includes the missing piece of the puzzle: energy storage. We’ve got ways to generate clean energy, we just need to be able to store it efficiently.
Renewable energy jobs rise by 700,000 in a year, to nearly 13 million | UN News
Switching to renewable energy could save trillions | BBC News
Biden-Harris administration sets offshore energy records with $4.37 billion in winning bids for wind sale | DOI
Facing budget shortfalls, these schools are turning to the sun | The New York Times
US installs record solar capacity as prices keep falling | Ars Technica
A clean energy trifecta: wind, solar and storage in the same project | Inside Climate News
Finally, a heat-pump water heater that plugs into a standard outlet | Canary Media
India's first fully solar village lights up the lives of poor residents | Dawn
Food & Agriculture 🌾
Ukraine Is Showing the World How Small Farmers Can Fix Our Broken Food System | The New Republic ➡️ Recent inflation and supply chain issues have highlighted the need to shift our food systems from a global to a more local scale, and it’s been incredible to watch Ukraine show how that might work - all while fighting an invasion from Russia.
Farmers in Bangladesh pump so much water it may help reduce floods | New Scientist
In Oregon, farmers are revamping century-old irrigation canals to stem water loss | Grist
How do you prevent urban flooding? This Vancouver neighborhood's 'rainway' could be a model | The Narwhal
Angola's agricultural sector could become Africa's powerhouse. Here's why | WeForum
To survive climate change, coffee must embrace new and resilient beans | Washington Post
World’s largest vertical farm is being built in the UK and it’s the size of 96 tennis courts | EuroNews
Governments step up action on agriculture and food security at COP27 | UNFCCC
Upside’s cell-cultured chicken is first to receive FDA blessing for its production method | TechCrunch
Government & Policy 🖋️
A clean and healthy environment is a human right, U.N. resolution declares | Mongabay ➡️ There aren’t many things the world agrees on, so we were beyond thrilled to hear U.N. member nations have overwhelmingly voted to make access to a clean and healthy environment a human right - especially considering it has taken decades to reach this decision.
‘The biggest thing to happen in international climate diplomacy in decades’ | The Atlantic
California could ban new gas heaters after 2030. The goal: healthier air | Canary Media
Denmark becomes first country to pay for ‘loss and damage’ from climate change | Euronews
Reducing emissions to net-zero by 2050 is possible if the right technologies are brought to commercial scale within the next decade | WeForum
For Gen Z voters, combating climate change is top of mind | EHN
France to require all large car parks to be covered by solar panels | The Guardian
Biden’s CHIPS Act will finance climate research, help boost US net-zero transition | Earth
Australia is about to pass its first-ever climate change bill | Vice
Brazil gives flagging climate fight a timely boost | Reuters
Nature & Biodiversity 🌍
Wax worm saliva rapidly breaks down plastic bags, scientists discover | The Guardian ➡️ In a year filled with terrifying discoveries about the impact of microplastics, it’s been great to see an accident turn into a scientific breakthrough - especially when it can help eliminate the over 9 billion metric tons of plastic waste around the world. So many of the tools to address the climate crisis can be found in nature, and this breakthrough proves just that.
Hurricane Ian shows Florida is vulnerable to extreme storms. Coral reefs can help. | Vox
Mushroom skins could be the secret to recyclable electronics | Anthropocene Magazine
Fungi can help forests tackle climate change. Here’s how | World Economic Forum
Restoring mangroves could protect Miami from rising seas | National Geographic
‘Superhero’ moss can save communities from flooding | The Guardian
Can wolves and beavers help save the west from global warming? | Inside Climate News
Mobility 🚃
EPA doubles electric school bus grants due to overwhelming demand | PIRG ➡️ Developing countries are often left out of conversations surrounding decarbonization, and because of that many climate solutions aren’t suited for them. A market as large as India getting a transportation solution that fits its needs is opening the door to a more sustainable world for all of us.
Rotterdam's bicycle parking strategy goes into practice | Park4SUMP
Germany’s €9 train tickets scheme ‘saved 1.8m tons of CO2 emissions’ | The Guardian
How ammonia could help clean up global shipping | MIT Technology Review
Amazon announces €1bn transportation electrification spree | BusinessGreen News
New York state is latest to ban sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 | Grist
Roam rolls out the first-ever electric mass-transit bus operation in Kenya! | CleanTechnica
An abandoned Berlin airport is being transformed into a climate-neutral, car-free neighborhood | Fast Company
A $10,000 EV made specifically for India hits the market | CleanTechnica
Send me a story!
Submit it below and you just may see it in the newsletter in the new year.
Written in partnership with Pique Action. Tired of doom-scrolling? You've found your people. Find Pique's positive, educational climate content on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.