In a year dominated by the Ukrainian war, the cost-of-living crisis, and unprecedented weather catastrophes, good news has been scant. But there have been some bright spots. FRANCE 24 reviews 10 good news for 2022.
After two years in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, many hoped that 2022 would herald a better future. Those hopes were dashed a few weeks later with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The past 12 months have also been punctuated by unprecedented weather catastrophes, the termination of the federal right to abortion in the United States, and the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
However, there has also been good news, from scientific advances to progress on human rights. FRANCE 24 brings you a roundup of some of the positive news for 2022 that you may have missed.
Hopes for treating Alzheimer’s, sleeping sickness and HIV/AIDS
Results of a large clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in late November were hailed as a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research. A drug called lecanemab was found to slow cognitive decline in patients by 27%.
Unfortunately, lecanemab also causes side effects, some of them serious, so longer clinical trials are needed to be sure that the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks. More than 55 million people have dementia worldwide, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common form.
On the other hand, a drug known as acoziborole could help eradicate sleeping sickness by 2030, according to data published in the medical journal The Lancet. This parasitic disease, transmitted by the tsetse fly, threatens at least 60 million people in 36 African countries and is fatal if left untreated. Until now, all existing treatments for sleeping sickness require hospitalization. But acoziborole, co-developed by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, can be taken in tablet form, making it much easier to distribute.
In other good news from the world of medicine, scientists announced in February that a third person – the first woman – had been cured of HIV, thanks to an innovative treatment consisting of transplanting stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Last but not least are the hopes that mRNA vaccines, originally developed against Covid-19, could be tools in the fight against cancer. A team of US researchers announced in August that they had developed a cancer vaccine with very good results in mice.
From tigers to gray wolves: Endangered species return from the abyss
All too often we see headlines about the disappearance of wild animals, a worrying sign of the biodiversity crisis. However, scientists were also able to observe the opposite phenomenon in 2022, with the return of some endangered species.
Nearly 50 years after researchers lost track of the Anatolian leopard, one was sighted in Turkey in May. Meanwhile, the number of wild tigers has turned out to be 40 percent higher worldwide than previously estimated and their population appears to be increasing, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced in July. The same goes for gray wolves. In France, where they are listed as a protected species, their number has risen from 783 in 2021 to 921, according to the French Biodiversity Agency.
These advances are excellent news since it is estimated that vertebrate populations have declined by an average of 69% in less than 50 years, with far-reaching consequences for the planet.
At the end of 2022, there was more good news for nature, with a historic agreement reached at the UN COP15 biodiversity summit, held in Montreal (Canada) on December 19. The agreement commits to securing 30% of the planet as a protected area by 2030 and providing $30 billion a year in conservation aid to the developing world.
Nations intensify their efforts to fight deforestation
The year also brought reassuring news for the protection of forests, considered essential to fight climate change. Among them, the return to power of Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva in Brazil: the leftist president-elect has already pledged to stop deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, which increased sharply under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
During his November 16 speech at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, ‘Lula’ declared: “There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon. We will do whatever it takes to have zero deforestation and degradation of our biomes”.
Meanwhile, EU lawmakers and member states reached a landmark agreement on December 6 to ban the importation into the bloc of various products deemed “major drivers of deforestation.”
These include palm oil, beef, soy, coffee, and cocoa produced on land deforested after December 31, 2020. The European Council and European Parliament have yet to officially adopt the legislation but expect them to.
Three more countries will abolish the death penalty
In 2022, Papua New Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea passed laws abolishing the death penalty for all crimes. According to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, an international alliance based near Paris, 111 countries out of 200 have already completely abandoned the practice. Three nations – Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia – accounted for 80% of executions in 2021.
Victories for LGBTIQ rights around the world
In a historic referendum, Cubans voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt. Some 67% of voters backed the changes on September 25, making Cuba the first communist country in the world to legalize gay marriage and adoption two days later.
Tokyo, the Japanese capital, has begun to roll out a system of partnership certificates, which allows same-sex couples to receive the same treatment as married couples when it comes to housing, medicine, and social assistance.
These certificates already exist in other prefectures in Japan, but their introduction in Tokyo on November 1 means that more than 60% of the Japanese population can already benefit from them. The move was welcomed by LGBT activists as a step forward in the only G7 country that does not allow same-sex marriage.
The Singapore Parliament also repealed a British colonial-era law that criminalized sexual relations between men. Although not actively enforced, the law punished homosexual relations with up to two years in prison. Its repeal on November 30 had been a longstanding demand by LGBT activists.
Scotland offers free period products
In a world first, menstrual products have become freely available in Scotland thanks to a new law that aims to combat period poverty. The move follows groundbreaking legislation from 2018 that made period products available in Scottish schools, colleges, and universities.
As of August 15, local authorities in Scotland are now legally required to provide menstrual products to “anyone who needs them”; In practice, this means making the items available in libraries, swimming pools, public gyms, and community centers. In addition, a mobile app, PickupMyPeriod, helps women and girls locate their nearest distribution point.
Equal pay between US men’s and women’s soccer teams.
In May, the United States Soccer Federation announced that it had reached an agreement guaranteeing equal pay for its men’s and women’s national teams. The historic agreement is a first in the world of professional soccer and marked the culmination of a long legal battle for the American players led by stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.
From now on, the men’s and women’s teams will receive the same fees and bonuses, whether for “friendly” or competitive matches. The agreement also stipulates that players from both teams will “pool and share” otherwise unequal prize money paid by FIFA for participation in their respective World Cups. As for the “commercial income”, including that from broadcasts and associations, it will be divided equally between the two teams.
“This is a historic moment. These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world,” US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement on May 18.
The James Webb telescope captures unknown corners of the universe
On July 11, six months after it was launched into orbit, the James Webb Space Telescope delivered its first color image. The stunning snapshot shows galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang, more than 13 billion years ago: the “deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe to date,” according to NASA.
Since then, the most powerful “telescope of the century” ever sent into space has provided stunning images of little-known or even unknown corners of our universe, from nebulae to exoplanets and galaxy clusters. This is expected to enable significant advances in astronomy in the coming years.
Nuclear fusion, a “great scientific breakthrough” that brings hope to the planet
A team of US scientists announced in mid-December that they had achieved “ignition” – a net gain of energy – during a nuclear fusion experiment. The researchers hailed the milestone as a key step in proving the feasibility of this carbon-free technology, which they say could provide a clean, infinite, and cheap source of energy in the future.
However, there is still a long way to go before nuclear fusion can power homes, as many engineering problems remain.
Germany commits to sustainable transport
As a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the ensuing cost of living crisis, in 2022 there was a shift to more sustainable modes of transport. In an attempt to offset inflation, Germany launched a 9-euro three-month pass in the summer, which allowed unlimited travel on local and regional trains, buses, and trams. Despite some setbacks, such as crowded trains, the operation – a world first in terms of affordability – was considered a success.
In total, more than 52 million individual tickets were sold, while another 10 million pre-existing subscribers received the discount. According to the Association of German Transport Companies, almost 1.8 million tons of CO2 were saved. Following this experimentation, the transport ministers of the 16 German regions announced in mid-October the introduction of a national transport ticket from January 1, 2023, with a monthly cost of 49 euros.
