2023 Good News Round Up
2023 was marked by extreme heatwaves, devastating floods, and constant headlines heralding doom. It was a year that many would like to forget, filled with despair and uncertainty.
That being said, despite the lows, there were still a lot of remarkable achievements throughout both Aotearoa and the world that are worth acknowledging.
1. Researchers at the University of British Columbia discovered how to filter microplastics from water using biodegradable forest byproducts such as bark and wood dust.
2. BioGro Licensee Rippon Vineyard was named one of the top 20 vineyards to visit in the world.
3. Renewables will provide half the world’s electricity by 2030, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
4. A few New Zealanders might have been a little salty about John Oliver’s election interference in Forest and Bird’s “Bird of the Century, but, the publicity brought more than $600,000 donated to the charity during the competition – more than six times what the 2022 competition raised!
5. Portugal ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row! For nearly a week, the country of 10 million met customer needs with wind, hydro, and solar.
6. The Organic Products and Production Bill passed its 3rd reading on Thursday 30th of March
7. In a historic referendum, Ecuadorians voted to halt drilling in a protected region of the Amazon. Sixty percent of voters said ‘no’ to oil exploration in Yasuní National Park.
The territory spans 12.5 million acres (NZ’s total land area is 26.8 million hectares) and contains Ecuador’s largest crude oil reserves.
8. A ban on single-use plastics – including single-use plastic tableware such as cups, plates, and cutlery, plastic produce bags, and plastic labels on fruits and vegetables – came into effect on July 1, making Aotearoa the first country to expand the plastic bag ban.
9. A joint Spanish and American research team found that people living near green spaces are, on average, two and a half years biologically younger than those who do not.
10. BioGro Licensee Zealong won gold for its Aromatic Oolong flavour, a highly commended award for its Aged Oolong, and a “Lifetime Achievement Leafie” for Zealong itself, in recognition of the company’s decades-long contribution to the advancement of tea knowledge and appreciation at the UK Tea Academy’s annual awards, also known as the “Leafies.”
11. Organic food sales in the United States broke through USD 60 billion for the first time, according to data released by the US Organic Trade Association.
12. The Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowers Conference was back (and in full swing) after a few years of delays due to COVID-19.
13. Research finds climate change strikes are working - Some 30 percent of Swiss residents surveyed said they had made changes to their transportation, buying, and recycling habits in the wake of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future climate strike protests.
14. Kākāpō returned to the mainland for the first time in 40 years.
15. Youths scored a climate victory in court in Montana, USA which ruled that young people have a right to live in a clean environment.
16. In May, a massive conservation effort between Save the Kiwi and the Capital Kiwi Project saw 65 kiwis released into Wellington’s bush to help the area revive its once-extinct population. By November, Wellington welcomed two kiwi hatchlings, the first wild-born kiwis in the area in 150 years.
17. A study shows daffodils grown at high altitudes can reduce methane emissions from cows.
18. Eighteen takahē were released into the wilds of a nature reserve on Lake Wakatipu.
19. A study showed that better farming techniques globally could lead to the storage of 31 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
20. BioGro turned 40, making it one of the oldest organic certification bodies in the world.