The rights of animals and the environment, from Mexico to Nepal
Mexico enshrined animal welfare rights in its constitution
The country is one of only 10 that include such recognition of nonhuman animals.
While all Mexican states have laws protecting animal rights, most legislation does not include farm animals. That left livestock in the country’s rapidly growing meat industry vulnerable to mistreatment.
Why We Wrote This
In our progress roundup, a Supreme Court and a Congress prune the advantage of business over other interests. In Nepal, the court scrapped a new law that would allow development in protected areas. And in Mexico, Congress tasked itself with more work to improve animal welfare.
Three amendments prohibit animal abuse, mandate that schools include animal welfare in their curricula, and direct the federal government to enact a broad welfare law. Marking the culmination of years of activism, Congress is now required to write the federal legislation.
In 2021, Mexico became the first nation in North America to ban the use of animals in cosmetic testing. And in 2017, it criminalized dogfighting.
Sources: Vox, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Humane World for Animals
Accessibility is becoming a higher priority for urban planning
Both urban and interior design professionals are giving more consideration to how they can improve life experiences for those with disabilities.
Vienna won this year’s European Commission award for prioritizing accessibility: Nearly all metro stations and transit stops use tactile guidance systems, low-floor vehicles, and multisensory emergency systems. Cartagena, Spain, won third prize for its assistance to people with disabilities bathing at popular beaches, and for reserved accessible seats at public events.
In North Carolina, a recent conference focused on creating inclusive environments that accommodate sensory sensitivities. The city of High Point shared its journey to becoming a Certified Autism Destination, a designation granted by a global certification group. Real estate brokers learned what caregivers look for when caring for a family member with disabilities. And interior designers shared how soft, natural light; subdued colors; and interactive elements like sensory walls or swings can create an autism-friendly home.
Sources: Disability Insider, Disability Scoop
Oslo, Norway, is pioneering a future for emissionless construction vehicles
Diesel-burning construction machines contribute about a fifth of greenhouse gases in the city. But since 2019, Norway’s capital has made strides toward replacing them with those burning biofuels and running on electricity.
Biofuels still produce pollutants, but some 98% of the city’s construction sites were free of fossil fuels in 2023. And now, a 2025 municipal mandate requires that all construction projects exclusively use electric vehicles. Their share in Oslo more than doubled in the past two years, which has also contributed to quieter operations.
New vehicles can expand the market, and the trend is taking hold elsewhere: Stockholm raised the minimum share of electric construction vehicles for its project redeveloping the city’s meatpacking district from 10% to 50%, and the Netherlands recently built the world’s first fast-charging station for heavy-duty electric machinery.
This past fall, registrations in Norway of private electric cars outnumbered internal combustion engine cars for the first time.
Sources: The Guardian, Klima Oslo
In Zambia and Malawi, a movement to repair solar panels prevents e-waste and creates local jobs
Since 2014, Africa’s solar capacity has increased tenfold. Yet the average life of products from lanterns to small home systems is only three years, according to a paper by the University of New South Wales and the charity SolarAid.
SolarAid trains people in Zambia and Malawi to diagnose and repair solar equipment. In Zambia, 10 repair agents work with a team of seven repair technicians who are able to fix more complex breakdowns. In the last fiscal year, SolarAid’s teams across Zambia and Malawi repaired 2,422 solar products.
Tobias Hanrath, a professor of engineering at Cornell University whose students have worked on photovoltaic panel repairs in New York, says that for Americans the challenge is changing a throwaway culture to one of repair and reuse.
Source: Reasons to be Cheerful
Nepal’s Supreme Court struck down a law that would have allowed development in protected areas
Last July, lawmakers passed legislation intended to be investment-friendly, empowering the government to allow infrastructure and tourism projects such as roads, hydroelectric plants, and hotels.
The Supreme Court’s ruling continues its track record of supporting human rights and speaks to “its commitment towards upholding its values,” said Babu Krishna Karki, an environmental activist.
Nepal’s landscape includes a dozen national parks that, along with several other protected areas, make up one-fifth of the country. The nation’s forest cover nearly doubled between 1992 and 2016, and populations of endangered animals such as tigers and rhinos have ticked upward in the past several decades.
Sources: Mongabay, Agence France-Presse, National Trust for Nature Conservation
