Staying on top of the current events can take a toll. Consider this list your reminder that there have been –and will continue to be – good news stories in 2021. From science breakthroughs to inspiring individual accomplishments, political triumphs and climate crisis wins (really!), each of these good news stories is a reminder that we can create positive change and that there is cause for optimism even in 2021.
We’ll add more every month, so bookmark and revisit to break up your doom scroll with a much-needed dose of optimism.
January
South Australia Is Powered By 100% Solar Power, In a World First
Australian Energy Market Operator report released in January reveals that for one full hour on 11 October 2020, all of South Australia’s electricity was provided by solar power. It’s the first time that an electricity grid of this size has been 100% solar-powered anywhere in the world. Even better, the increase in solar and wind power also reduced the price of electricity to an eight-year low! Read more on Renew Economy.
Paris Mayor Approves Plan to Turn the Champs-Elysee Into ‘Urban Green Oasis’
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo endorsed a $395 million plan to redevelop the iconic Champs-Élysées – reducing traffic lanes, planting thousands of new trees, expanding footpaths and creating new pedestrians spaces. The plan is projected to add 140% more shade, and drop road surface for cars from 74% to just 18%. Read more on SMH ($).
UK, Germany and Spain Report More Electricity Powered By Renewables Than Fossil Fuels in 2020
Reports out of both Germany and Spain show that in both countries, renewables edged out fossil fuels as the majority source of electricity in 2020. It’s the first time this has happened, a clear sign that a meaningful transition to renewable energy is well underway! Read more on The Verge.
February
Australia’s First Ever Billboard Featuring a Plus Size Model Goes Up
The first billboard in Australia to feature a plus-size model is unveiled, starring podcaster and body positivity advocate April Watson (who was also a guest on the Zee Feed podcast) in a campaign for Curvy Swimwear. The campaign ran for the first week of February with billboards in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Read more on 9Honey.
Amanda Gorman Is First Poet to Perform At The Super Bowl
After moving the U.S. and the world with her performance at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Amanda Gorman becomes the first poet to ‘perform’ at the Super Bowl. She delivered an inspiring original piece ‘Chorus of the Captains’ which was written for the three everyday “heroes of the pandemic” who were also honoured at the sporting event: educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin. Read more on Entertainment Weekly.
March
World Happiness Report Finds Global Positivity Didn’t Dip During COVID
The headline says it all, really. Despite the pandemic wreaking havoc globally, the annual happiness survey found that on average people were just as happy as they were before 2020. On average, we actually rated our lives as being slightly better than in the years before. Read more of our analysis on the uplifting findings from the report.
New Zealand Passes Bereavement Leave Legislation For Couples Who Suffer Miscarriage
In a unanimous vote, NZ Parliament passed a law to allow couples to access three days of paid leave when a pregnancy ends in a miscarriage or stillbirth, without having to take sick leave. It also applies to adoption or surrogacies. NZ and India are the only two countries in the world offering this – read more on Stuff.
April
Chloé Zhao is First Woman of Colour to Win Best Director Oscar
Nomadland makes Chinese director Chloé Zhao the first woman of colour to win the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture – an overdue first in the 92-year history of the awards. Read more on NPR.
Menulog To Trial An Employment Model For Delivery Riders
During the Senate inquiry into job security and the gig economy, Menulog announced it will trial employing food delivery riders (instead of paying them as independent contractors). As part of the trial (which officially started in June), Sydney riders are paid union-negotiated minimum wage rates and superannuation, are provided with safety equipment and have increased insurance. Read more on Innovation Aus.
Epicurious Announces It Will No Longer Publish Beef Recipes To Promote Sustainable Cooking
Well, technically Epicurious quietly made the decision to stop publishing or promoting beef recipes in late 2019, but officially announced it in April 2021. The digital food publishing giant made the move to encourage its audience to take a more environmentally-friendly approach to cooking – “not anti-beef, but pro-planet.” Read more on Epicurious.
May
Chile Begins World First, Public-Led Rewrite of Its Constitution
In an October 2020 referendum, a huge majority of Chileans voted to rewrite their country’s constitution, which was created by military dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 70s. To ensure the new constitution is democratic and addresses issues of inequality, in May Chile voted in the 155 people who will create it with important diversity measures built into the process – even representation of men and women, with 17 positions reserved for Indigenous representatives. It’s rare to see examples of major structural political reform, led by the will of the people, with proactive diversity measures in place. Read more on BBC.
Shell, Chevron, BP Forced to Address Emissions By Courts & Investors
May 27 turned out to be a major day for the environment. Three things happened to the world’s biggest oil companies: a Dutch court ruled that Shell must cut its carbon emissions by 45% before the end of 2030; ethical hedge fund Engine No 1 won two seats on the board of ExxonMobil; and 61% of Chevron’s shareholders voted in a proposal for the company to cut its emissions. Read more on all three developments on The Guardian.
Affirmative Consent Laws Introduced in NSW
The NSW Government announces reforms to consent laws to better support victims of sexual assault. The new laws mean the accused can only claim they believed the encounter was consensual if they can prove that they actually asked for consent (and got it). It changes the legal concept of consent from “They didn’t say no…” to “They have to say yes”. Read more on The Guardian.
June
We Thought This Australian Mouse Was Extinct – But It’s Not!
A lil Australian rodent previously thought to be extinct is actually alive and thriving – under a different name. Scientists have confirmed that the djoongari (or ‘Shark Bay mouse’) living on three islands in Shark Bay, WA, is genetically identical to the Gould’s Field mouse that used to be widespread across the entire country pre-colonialism. Read more on Natural History Museum.
Humpback Whales Seen Bubble-Net Feeding In Australia For the First Time
A conservationists report released in June confirmed that large pods of 20-30 humpback whales were seen bubble-net feeding of the NSW South Coast for the first time ever. It’s only the second time that a humpback whale ‘super group’ has been seen in the Southern hemisphere – a great sign of their population numbers recovering towards pre-whaling days! Read more on Australian Geographic.
Australian Fashion Week Holds The First Ever 100% First Nations Fashion Show
Despite other issues around Australian Fashion Week, it’s still worth acknowledging the phenomenal work of the designers, models, and ‘back of house’ talent of First Nations Fashion and Design – the first ever First Nations show at fashion week. Every single person who worked on this show is Indigenous, making a powerful statement that moved some to tears. Read more on ABC.
July
Ash Barty & Dylan Alcott Make History at Wimbledon
Australian dominated at Wimbledon this year. Ash Barty won Wimbledon for the first time, on the 50th anniversary of her mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s first win in 1971. Dylan Alcott won his second Wimbledon, putting him in the running for a ‘Calendar Golden Slam’ – winning all four major Grand Slams, plus an Olympic/Paralympic gold medal all in the same year. Read more on Yahoo! Sport.
Britney Spears Allowed to Hire Own Lawyer in Conservatorship Trial
A small win in Britney’s long fight to end her father’s legal control of her life: an LA judge has allowed the star to choose her own lawyer. Until now, Britney’s lawyers had been appointed by the same conservatorship she was fighting against. Her new lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, said he will be filing a petition ASAP to have Jamie Spears removed from Britney’s conservatorship. Read more on SBS.
Scientists Reverse Age-Related Memory Loss in Mice
Researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds have discovered a way to reverse age-related memory loss in mice that they believe it could lead to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in humans. Read more on Science Daily.
August
The Wiggles Announce First Ever Indigenous Cast Member
Taribelang and Djiabugay woman, Evie Ferris, has been announced as the first Indigenous Wiggle. Evie is one of four new cast members in a new series called Fruit Salad TV, which will premiere on The Wiggles’ YouTube site. The new diverse additions are part of the conscious efforts made by the show to make The Wiggles more inclusive and to reflect today’s Australia. Read more on SBS.
Debbie Lee Becomes First Woman Inducted to AFL Hall of Fame
Former VWFL President, 300-gamer, six-time All-Australian and current General Manager of the Western Bulldogs AFLW club, Debbie Lee now adds Hall of Famer to her long list of accomplishments. She is the first woman to received the prestigious sporting honour. Read more on Women’s Agenda.
Olympians Agree to Share Gold Medal For the First Time in 113 years
History was made at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) and Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) both failed to clear the final heigh of 2.39m. The athlestes were offered a ‘jump-off’ to decided the winner, but they declined and instead agreed to be awarded equal gold medals. The competors have actually been friends for 11 years, and even attended each other’s weddings, making the moment even more wholesome! Read more on USA Today.
September
Switzerland Legalises Same Sex Marriage
Switzerland voted to legalised same-sex civil marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children, by a nearly two-thirds majority in a vote on the 26th of September. In a country-wide referendum 64.1% of voters voted in favour of same-sex marriage making Switzerland the 30th country in the world to do so. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 16 out of 28 European countries! Read more on Al Jazeera.
Dylan Alcott Becomes First Man to Achieve a Calendar Year Tennis Golden Slam
Australian tennis star Dylan Alcott is the first man to win the Calendar Year Golden Slam – winning all four major championships and a gold medal in a single year. After claiming gold at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, Alcott clinched the Golden Slam with the US Open, defeating Dutchman Niels Vink, 7-5, 6-2. Steffi Graff is the only other player to have achieved a Calendar Golden Slam. Read more on Tennis Australia.
First Transgender Women Voted into German Parliament
Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik made history this month when they were elected into parliament in the 2021 German federal election. They are the first transgender women to win parliamentary seats, both representing Germany’s Greens party – which also secured it’s best election result ever with 14.8% of the vote. Read more on CBS News.
Iceland Opens World’s Largest ‘Carbon Air-Capture’ Plant
The world’s largest direct carbon air capture plant has started operating in Iceland. The Orca plant literally sucks carbon dioxide from the air and sends it underground, using new technology developed by Swiss start-up Climeworks AG. Orca plant is expected to pull 4,000 tons of CO2 out of the air per year – the equivalent of taking 790 cars off the road for year. of the annual emissions from about 790 cars. Read more on Reuters.
October
First Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O.
The World Health Organization has approved the widespread rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine. The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, has seen a 70% reduction in hospitalisation or death, when used in conjunction with antimalarial medication. Malaria kills about 500,000 people each year, nearly all of them in Africa — including 260,000 children under five. This new vaccine has reinvigorated the decades-long fight against malaria and is predicted to save tens of thousands of children’s lives each year across Africa. Read more on the New York Times.
Brooke Blurton is World’s First Indigenous and Bisexual Bachelorette
Brooke Blurton’s season of The Bachelorette premiered, making her the first Indigenous and bisexual star of a Bachelor franchise in the world – a huge win for Indigenous and queer represenation! Brooke, a Noongar and Yamatji woman, opened the season by speaking about how important connection to culture is for her, and openly discussed her relationship with her sexuality. At the show’s famous mansion she was met by three Bidjigal elders who performed the franchise’s first ever welcome to Country. Read more on The Guardian.
Tasmania’s Giant Kelp Forests Have Started To Regrow
One year after the commencement of a ‘rescue trial’ by the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), samples of Tasmanian giant kelp have re-grown up to 12 metres. Giant kelp forests are considered a blue carbon ecosystem and can help to offset rising emissions by trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide, acting as natural carbon sinks. Unfortunately, 95% of Tasmania’s giant kelp forests have vanished due to climate change. But now that scientists have been able to regrow patches of giant kelp using selective breeding, there is renewed hope these once widespread and beautiful forests will be able to return and self-expand. Read more on ABC.
November
Signs of Life in the ‘Biologically Dead’ River Thames
London’s River Thames had been declared ‘biologically dead’ due to pollution since 1957. But a new report has found that there are indeed signs of marine life in the river once again! The first ever State of the Thames Report discovered seahorses, oysters, seals, critically endangered eels and more than 100 species of fish in the 215-mile long river. The report also showed shark species are using the the cleaned up river for their nurseries, including tope, starry smooth-hounds and spurdogs. Read more on News.com.au.
Biggest Wind Farm in the Southern Hemisphere
The Victoria Government has approved a $2bn wind farm facility to be built next year. The Golden Plains Wind Farm by WestWind Energy will include 215 turbines, estimated to power 765,000 homes per year, making it the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. This project will be a huge help towards Victoria’s renewable energy target of 50% by 2030. Read more on The Brisbane Times.
Portugal Bans After-Hours Work Texts
It is now illegal for employers to contact their staff out of work hours in Portugal, thanks to new working from home laws. The new legislation aims to encourage healthier work-life balance and attract “digital nomads” to the country after the pandemic. It also bans employers from monitoring their workers at home, and dictates that workers must meet with their boss face-to-face every two months to combat isolation. Read more on BBC.
Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill Passes NSW Lower House
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill has successfully passed the NSW Legistlative Assembly and will now be considered by the Legislative Council (upper house) in 2022. After four days of debate and more than 150 amendments considered, the Bill passed with 52 MPs in favour and 32 against. NSW, NT and ACT are currently the only states and territories in Australia where voluntary assisted dying is not legal. Read more on the ABC.
December
Disney Appoints First Ever Female Chairperson
The Walt Disney Company named Susan Arnold as its new chairperson, the first woman to be appointed to the role in the entertainment company’s 98-year-long history. Arnold has been previously been named on the Wall Street Journal ’50 Women to Watch’ and Fortune ’50 Most Powerful Women in Business’ lists. This leadership change follows Disney’s efforts in recent years to redefine how its female characters act and behave, trading damsels in distress for independent and diverse characters that celebrate female ambition. Read more on BBC.
Student Brings Representation To Medical Education with Black Illustrations
An illustration of a pregnant Black woman with a baby in utero has gone viral. The visual by Chidiebere Ibe, a Nigerian medical illustrator and first year medical student, is the first time many would have seen a Black person depicted in instructional medical imagery. Ibe explained on his GoFundMe page (set up to help with medical school fees): “Most medical illustrations (in textbooks) are on the Caucasian skin. This lack of diversity has important implications for medical trainees and their future patients because many conditions and signs look different based on the patient’s skin colour and therefore the Black skin should be equally represented.” Read more on POPSUGAR.
Coral IVF Babies on Great Barrier Reef Have Reproduced For The First Time
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation announced that coral ‘IVF babies’ have themselves reproduced on a for the first time since being planted in 2016. The ‘IVF’ scheme involves collecting sperm and eggs from spawning coral, growing them into baby coral in controlled conditions, and attaching those babies back onto damaged parts of the Reef. Now that the planted coral has spawned, it could be the answer to saving the reef! Read more on SMH.
James Webb Telescope Successfully Launches Into Space
After 30 years in development, the most powerful telescope in the world – the James Webb Telescope – successfully launched into space on Christmas Day! It will be able to go further into space (1.5million kilometres), and see further back in time, than we’ve ever been able to before – potentially answering questions about the creation of our universe. It’s named after James Webb, who ran NASA in the 60s and directed the Apollo moon landing program. Read more about the James Webb Telescope on BBC.
