20 reasons to celebrate 2020

Good news, everybody! Really. Yes, while you can be forgiven for thinking that we are living through end times — case in point: we couldn’t get three days into the new decade without an explosive (literally) row between the US and Iran — if you look at the bigger picture, progress is not wholly on hold. In fact, there’s a lot to celebrate at the start of 2020. So: deep breaths, big smiles. These are 20 reasons to be cheerful. 

1. The UK’s net-zero emissions target inches that bit closer

Last year was the UK’s greenest year on record, with renewables beating fossil fuels on 137 days of the last year. Indeed, for the sixth year in a row the UK reduced its carbon emissions, down to the lowest level since 1888, something to hold on to in the steep fight against climate change.

2. The vegan bandwagon is on a (sausage) roll

Not all heroes wear capes. Some sell pasties. Gregg’s pivot to vegan, which began with the launch of Quorn sausage rolls, inset below, ticked off Piers Morgan, helped boost company profits by 58 per cent and left all comers feeling good (they’re tasty and their soaring sales may cut into the meat industry’s enormous carbon footprint). Tesco and M&S now offer vegan sausage rolls, while KFC and McDonald’s have a vegan option. Everyone’s a winner. 

3. Bond is back

Daniel Craig, right, returns for a final lap in the Aston Martin in No Time To Die on April 2. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was licensed to spice up the script. We can’t wait.

4. Abortion was legalised in Northern Ireland 

… as was same-sex marriage. The changes were imposed by lawmakers in Westminster who gave Northern Ireland a deadline of October 21 to restore its assembly at Stormont or have the laws changed from London.

5.The “dead” Thames is now teeming with life 

In 1950, the Thames was technically declared “dead”. Lots of pollution, little oxygen, no fish. The same river is now a “hub of life”, according to the Zoological Society of London. It announced in September that 138 seal pups had been spotted on Thames riverbanks. Elsewhere, a project to restore native oysters began in the summer. Talk about making a splash. 

6. The Olympics are coming 

To Tokyo this summer, where we will witness US gymnast extraordinaire Simone Biles, right, dazzle once more, and (hopefully) Team GB  improve on its 67 medal haul from Rio in 2016. Keep an eye out for the human blur that is Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman on record, while leviathan Adam Peaty is expected to go for gold in the 100m breaststroke.

7. The UK has its most diverse parliament ever

In December, 220 female MPs were elected, 12 more than the previous record from 2017. And now one in 10 of our 650 MPs are non-white. Just a decade ago, only one in 40 MPs were non-white, according to research by the independent think thank British Future. Silver linings, then. Meanwhile parliament is still, according to PinkNews, “the gayest in the world” with 45 MPs who identify as LGBT+.

8. It’s a year of Great Expectations (and a good one for clouds)

April will see William Wordsworth’s 250th birthday and June will mark 150 years since the death of Charles Dickens. Dust off your tomes. There are events planned such as  a “Wordsworth Walk” around the Romantic poet’s former home, Dove Cottage, in the Lake District, and a wreath laying at Westminster Abbey for Dickens.

9. Heart disease deaths fell again 

Heart disease is still the biggest killer in the UK. But the number of people dying from it has decreased from 80 per 100,000 to 46 per 100,000 since 2005. Experts put the sharp decline down to the use of statins to lower cholesterol and fewer people taking up smoking.

10. The fight against Aids is breaking new ground 

Last year in London, scientists announced that a HIV-positive man had become the second patient in history to be cleared of the virus. He had been given a bone marrow transplant from a HIV-resistant donor and, three years later, doctors could find no trace of the virus — he was in remission. This adds to advances in treatment and prevention that have seen global HIV and Aids-related deaths decrease by a third in a decade. 

11. Carbon-neutral flying has taken leap forward

Is it a bird? Is it Superman? No, tomorrow’s saviour takes the shape of an electric plane. The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft took a 15-minute test flight in December. The company that designed the e-plane, magniX, declared it “the start of the electric aviation age”. 

12. The world is getting greener

The world is five per cent greener now than it was two decades ago, according to a study by Nasa. This is partly because reforestation schemes have actually picked up the pace. Ireland’s government announced plans in August to plant 22 million trees each year until 2040 and New Zealand has pledged to plant one billion by 2028. China has also sponsored huge programmes to conserve and expand forests to reduce the effects of soil erosion, air pollution and climate change.

13. Species are back from the brink

Endangered species are staging their own extinction rebellion. Fernandina giant tortoises were thought to be extinct, but they resurfaced this year in the Galapagos Islands. Similarly, humpback whales in the western South Atlantic were culled to a few hundred in the Fifties, but conservation efforts have seen them rebound to 25,000.

14. A US election is coming…

Well, everyone enjoyed the last one! On a serious note, this election will see Trump’s America First policies go up against one of the Democrats’ vast pool of candidates. Can Elizabeth Warren succeed where Hillary Clinton failed and become the first female US President? Wunderkind Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay person to mount a major campaign for the Oval Office. Social media savvy entrepeneur Andrew Yang is the only non-white candidate left. Bernie Sanders is back, as is Obama’s VP Joe Biden. With impeachment, Iran and climate change high on the agenda, the US faces a historic choice.

15. Love Island 

It’s back. Lovelorn twins, Laura Whitmore and the heir to Cornwall’s Lanhydrock estate present a less confusing concept than The Masked Singer, at the very least.

16. It’s a great time to be alive 

The zeitgeist laments that our lives are worse than ever. But children born today have the best chance of growing up healthy, safe and educated. There are 4.4 million fewer child deaths per year than in 2000, according to Save The Children’s Global Childhood report. And in 2019, there had been a seven-year low in the number of children killed in war.

17. Football’s coming home 

It actually is. Wembley will host the Euro 2020 finals and semi-finals in July. With an all-star team featuring Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and (fingers crossed) a fully fit Harry Kane, England have a chance of getting their hands on a trophy. We live in hope.

18. Electric wheels keep on rolling 

Tesla built a car battery that can last a million miles without losing capacity, even with constant recharging. That’s a few minutes off the doomsday clock, surely?

19. Glastonbury is turning 50 

Which definitely means Taylor Swift, Diana Ross, Paul McCartney and a dollop of rumours about the final headliner. Those in the know whisper feverishly of Kendrick Lamar. Bonus cheer if you managed to get a ticket.  

20. A mushroom could solve the planet’s plastic problem  

Single-use plastic bans sprang up everywhere last year (including new controls in the UK). But hope also came from an unlikely source. A fungus discovered in Pakistan, Aspergillus tubingensis, has properties that can rapidly break down polyurethane plastic. Others, such as Pestalotiopsis microspore, pictured above, also have a voracious appetite for plastic, raising hopes they could help tackle the planet’s waste problem.