It’s hard to stay positive amongst the maelstrom of bad news so this is our humple attempt at lifting your spirits.

1. Carbon emissions fell by the largest amount ever recorded (7%).

2. 2 million people planted 250 million trees in one weekend in Uttar Pradesh, India.

3. Parasite became the first non-English film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

4. Same sex-marriage was legalised in Northern Ireland, Sark, Costa Rica, Puebla (Mexico) and Tlaxcala (Mexico).

5. Scotland became the first country to offer free period products for all

6. Pet adoptions and foster homes were way up this year

7. Africa is now free of Wild Polio.

8. African black rhino populations have increased

9. The Sudanese government will end child marriage and enforce the ban on female genital mutilation

10. Thousands of sea turtles laid 60 million eggs in India during the country’s lockdown

11. A huge hole in the ozone layer above the Arctic has now healed and closed.

12. The US Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal to fire workers on the basis of being LGBTQ+.

13. After 10 years of trying, two Giant Pandas finally mated in a Hong Kong zoo during the city’s lockdown. Guess they just wanted some privacy.

14. Diego, the 100 year old giant Galapagos tortoise, saved an entire species by fathering around 800 giant tortoises.

15. Bali opened the world’s first rehab centre for dolphins that were forced to perform for the public.

16. The number of elephants in Kenya has more than doubled since 1989.

17. Black Lives Matter became the biggest mass movement in US history.

18. The world’s first happiness museum opened in Copenhagen.

19. China gave pangolins (the world’s most trafficked animal) protected status.

20. Researchers discovered that male dolphins can form ‘boy bands’ to sing and attract females

21. Crayola launched a box of crayons with diverse skin colors for children to “accurately color themselves into the world.”

22. A Harvard study shows that in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, 68% of fathers report feeling closer to their children.

23. NASA named its Washington, D.C. headquarters after Mary W. Jackson – the first Black female engineer.

24. The European Commission elected its first female President.

25. Sea turtle populations officially increased by 980% since becoming protected in 1973.

26. India dedicated a Metro station to transgenders, renaming the station ‘Pride Station’

27. A nine-year study at a wind farm in Norway found that bird strikes can be cut by up to 70 percent simply by painting one blade of a wind turbine black.

28. Bees love weed, and that can save their dying populations.

29. A Hungarian orchestra helped bring Beethoven to the hearing-impaired by allowing them to feel the vibrations of the strings.

30. During the first half of 2020, fossil fuel use fell by 18%, and renewable energy increased by 11%.

31. Electricity projects in India and some African nations led to nearly 90 million people gaining access to electricity between 2018 and the pre-pandemic period.

32. The number of lions living in Kenya increased by 25% in the past decade.

33. Deaths caused by terrorism decreased for a fifth consecutive year.

34. The coronavirus vaccine became the fastest vaccine to ever be developed.

35. Research breakthroughs were made for the development of a vaccine to treat blood cancers.

36. Women’s representation in parliaments has more than doubled globally in the past 25 years.

37. A UN study found that the risk of maternal death decreased by 29% in Southern Asia.

38. NASA found that water on the moon is far more common than previously thought – which could be a gamechanger.

39. Studies found that up to 48 bird and mammal species have been saved from extinction by international conservation efforts since 1993.

40. After having been hunted to extinction 400 years ago, beavers are finding their way back into the UK.

41. Dublin became the first capital city in the world to have a zero-emissions postal service

42. Google launched a hum-to-search feature allowing you to whistle, sing or hum to discover the song.

43. Critically endangered blue whales have been spotted in ‘unprecedented numbers’ around Antarctica.

44. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon launch was the first time a commercial spacecraft sent astronauts to orbit.

45. The Brazilian football confederation announced that the national women’s team players will now be paid “the same amount for prize money and daily rates” as their male counterparts.

46. Starbucks opened two all-female stores in India.

47. Movement restrictions and a significant slowdown of social and economic activities resulted in a tremendous improvement in air quality in many cities.

48. The world’s biggest economy got its first female vice-president.

49. Major companies like 3M and Apple pooled resources or shifted production to make millions of masks.

50. India’s tiger population nearly doubled in 12 years

51. Researchers have created wardrobe fabrics that can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

52. The pope endorsed same-sex relationships.