{"id":190721,"date":"2021-08-02T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=190721"},"modified":"2021-08-01T05:23:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-01T04:23:57","slug":"what-went-right-this-week-empathy-in-english-channel-plus-more-positive-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/08\/what-went-right-this-week-empathy-in-english-channel-plus-more-positive-news\/","title":{"rendered":"What Went Right This Week: Empathy in English Channel, Plus More Positive News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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29 Jul 2021 – A UK charity criticised for rescuing refugees saw a 2,000 per cent increase in donations, a tool was launched to help endangered species, and Montenegro saw its first same-sex marriage, plus more positive news.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Donations flooded in for UK sea rescue charity <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A UK charity that saves lives at sea saw a 2,000 per cent increase in donations on Wednesday, after it was criticised by an anti-migrant politician for rescuing refugees in the Channel.<\/p>\n

The Royal National Lifeboat Association (RNLI) was described by Nigel Farage as a \u201ctaxi service for illegal trafficking gangs\u201d, after the charity released footage of it intercepting refugees<\/a>, including children, at sea.<\/p>\n

Farage\u2019s comments sparked an outpouring of public support for the RNLI, which reported a 2,000 per cent increase in donations on Wednesday (raising \u00a3200,000 in one day). The charity said it was \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by the response, and that its mission was to \u201csave everyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

The RNLI has no role in immigration enforcement or border control. Its volunteers hand over responsibility for anyone rescued to the authorities when they reach land.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NYC\u2019s novel approach to 911 calls showed promise<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Since June, New York City has been sending social workers instead of police officers to some nonviolent emergency calls as part of a trial. Data released this week<\/a> suggested the pilot is showing promise.<\/p>\n

The Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD), responded to 138 calls in the first month of the trial. Of those, a reported 50 per cent resulted in someone going to hospital, compared to 82 per cent for traditional 911 responses.<\/p>\n

The data also revealed that people accepted assistance from B-HEARD teams in 95 per cent of cases, compared to 82 per cent for regular 911 call outs.<\/p>\n

B-HEARD is one of a number of programmes in the US<\/a> experimenting with sending alternatives to law enforcement officers for nonviolent emergencies. It comes as the US reckons with police violence and systemic racism, brought into fresh focus by the death of George Floyd.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A conservation tool launched to help species recover <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For years, scientists have put much emphasis on how close endangered species are to extinction, rather than how well they are recovering. In line with this is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature\u2019s (IUCN) red list \u2014 a regularly updated risk assessment of imperilled wildlife.<\/p>\n

This week the IUCN launched a green list<\/a> to highlight how close creatures are to recovering their original population size. The metric, a decade in the making, has been used to assess 181 species.<\/p>\n

The California condor (pictured) is one of them. The bird is classed as critically endangered on the red list, but a green status assessment found that,with ongoing support, its population could recover to 75 per cent of its original size by the end of the century.<\/p>\n

Dr\u00a0Molly Grace, of the IUCN, said the new metric \u201cprovides evidence that conservation works, giving cause for optimism and impetus for stronger action.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Africa\u2019s largest forest reserve was removed from Unesco danger list <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On the subject of red lists, Africa\u2019s largest rainforest reserve was removed from Unesco\u2019s register of threatened sites on Monday.<\/p>\n

Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to rare bonobos and forest elephants (pictured), which have been the subject of conservation efforts in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegular wildlife monitoring shows that bonobo populations remain stable within the reserve despite past pressures, and that the forest elephant population has slowly begun to recover,\u201d said Unesco.<\/p>\n

Salonga was placed on the danger list in 1999 owing to concerns about poaching, pollution and oil prospecting. The DRC has reportedly cancelled oil permits in the park. However, plans are afoot for crude projects at other ecologically sensitive sites in the country. Conservationists are calling for them to be cancelled too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Montenegro registered its first same-sex partnership <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Montenegro registered its first-ever same-sex civil partnership on Sunday, a year after the country narrowly legalised same-sex unions<\/p>\n

The milestone is a progressive step for the conservative nation, where the LGBT community has suffered harassment and isolation in the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A US county banned fossil fuel infrastructure <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In what was a first for the US, a county in Washington state has banned all new fossil fuel infrastructure, including oil refineries and coal-fired plants.<\/p>\n

In a vote on Tuesday, Whatcom county council unanimously passed the measure, which also requires existing fossil fuel facilities to offset emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we will still have these dinosaur facilities already here it will be more challenging for them to expand,\u201d council member Todd Donovan told the Guardian<\/a>. \u201cThe future is clearly in renewable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The \u2018world\u2019s most powerful\u2019 tidal turbine went live<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A sea-powered turbine, which its makers say is the most powerful in the world, has started producing electricity in Orkney, Scotland.<\/p>\n

Orbital Marine Power\u2019s turbine can generate enough green energy to power 2,000 homes. The submarine-like facility is anchored out at sea and connected to the grid via an underwater cable.<\/p>\n

Orbital CEO, Andrew Scott, said he believed tidal turbines have an important role to play in \u201ctackling climate change while creating a new, low-carbon industrial sector\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Map revealed progress of English rewilding project<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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More than 1,000 landowners in East Anglia have agreed to take part in an ambitious rewilding project, led by three farmers.<\/p>\n

Schools, councils, churches, energy companies and farmers are among those who have pledged to make space for nature on their land. Their plots can be viewed on a new map, dubbed the \u2018map of dreams\u2019.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of the Wild East campaign, which wants to expand East Anglia\u2019s natural habitats by 20 per cent (roughly 250,000 hectares) by 2070.<\/p>\n

Read the full Positive News story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – positive.news<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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