📈 Human Progress
In the last decades humanity has made great progress with less extreme poverty, increased health, wealth and democracy. We follow in the tradition of professor Hans Rosling.
🦋 Rewilding in Scotland leads to sharply increased biodiversity
Rewilded land in Scotland has increased the number of suitable breeding territories for birds by 546% compared to non-rewilded land. The number of bumblebees and butterflies has increased more than tenfold, and the network is now estimated to support 2.5 million pollinating insects.
⛓️ Forced labor has nearly disappeared in the world
In 1789, 165 of 174 countries had large-scale forced labor – by 2024, only nine countries remained. The fastest change occurred after World War II, when the number of countries with widespread forced labor dropped from nearly 100 to 31 in just one generation.
🦋 The lord of the pessimists is dead – this was his great mistake
Dr. Paul Ehrlich has passed away. He was a cheerful pessimist who viewed humans as insects.
🧒 First vaccine that protects children from deadly E. coli infections
ETVAX is the first vaccine to show significant protection against E. coli infections in humans. The vaccine reduced moderate-to-severe diarrhea in infants under nine months by 68 percent. A phase 3 trial with 5,800 infants from low- and middle-income countries is about to begin.
🌲 Sweden's forests are growing – every harvested tree is replaced with two to three new seedlings
Sweden has twice as much old-growth forest compared to 30 years ago, according to the National Forest Inventory. The timber volume in Swedish forests has doubled since the 1920s.
📉 UK emissions at lowest level since 1872
Greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4 percent in 2025 and are now 54 percent below 1990 levels. Coal use halved and is at its lowest since 1600, while gas use dropped to the lowest level since 1992.
🐂 European bison have increased from 60 to 9,000 – now the species expands in Spain
Nine European bison have been released in the Iberian Highlands in Spain as part of an international research study. The number of European bison has increased from just over 2,500 to around 9,000 individuals over the past decade.
🚯 Over 25 million kilograms of trash removed from oceans and waterways in 2025
The organization's total amount of collected trash has now surpassed 45 million kilograms. A new program, the 30 Cities Program, will tackle a third of all plastic waste reaching the oceans from the world's most polluted urban areas.
🌊 The Soviet Union drained the Aral Sea – now it's filling up again
The Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest lake. When the Soviet Union diverted two rivers for cotton farming, it shrank rapidly. Now the trend has reversed: the North Aral Sea’s surface has grown by 36% in 20 years, water volume has nearly doubled, and 20 fish species have returned.