Welcome back to some more good news!

This week, we have a lot of good news for those worrying about carbon emissions and carbon storage. Dive in!

Science

Peatlands Can Store Our Carbon

• Peatlands release large amounts of CO2 when converted into agricultural land

• To convert peatlands to agricultural lands, farmers dry out the peat. In doing so, peaty soils begin to break down and release around 5% of the world’s total CO2

• To stop peatlands from releasing CO2, we must let the water table rise

• Universities in the UK are already taking action to execute projects to allow the water table to restore to a healthy level

Business

The UK Loves EVs

• Record number of used EV cars were sold in the UK last year

• Total sales grew by 5.5%

• This is showcasing a new trend of EVs becoming closer to being affordable

• Car manufacturers also sold a record number of new electric cars in the UK last year, at around 20% of all sales

  Read more at The Guardian

Politics

Colombia’s Fight Against Logging

• Columbia's environmental minister, Susana Muhamad, has spearheaded an effort that resulted in deforestation in Colombia reaching its lowest levels in 23 years

• 2024 had the third lowest deforestation rate in the past two decades

• She also led discussions at the UN's COP16 on how to direct $200 billion dollars of aid towards conservation efforts, though no conclusion was reached at that time

Activism

Stanford x Indonesia to Feed the World

• Indonesia is pioneering an effort to sustainably feed billions, with blue foods

• Blue foods are foods like fish, shellfish, seaweed, and other aquatic plants

• Stanford University is collaborating with Indonesian organizations to set up sustainable food sources for the world

• Blue food has the potential to feed billions, if harvested correctly. This project will likely roll out over the next few decades

Thank you so much for reading!

If you like the content you’ve been reading, I would encourage you to introduce us to your friends who are also into climate news! We all need some positive news these days.

~ Dhanvi