With 2015 coming to a close, it’s easy to be tempted into thinking this was a remarkably disastrous year. To be sure, with wars in the middle east, the rise of ISIS and the world’s worst refugee crisis since World War Two this year was deeply challenging to the international community. But look beyond these headlines and you’ll see that humanity racked up some amazing achievements in 2015. 

Here are three reasons why 2015 was actually a good year for humanity. 

1) The Sustainable Development Goals

In September, the world came together in an unprecedented fashion around the common goal of totally eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. This was the first global goal of 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” that world leaders pledged to achieve by 2030. Others include ending hunger, promoting gender equality, affordable clean energy,and ending epidemics like HIV/AIDS. 

The SDGs built on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, which expired in 2015.  If these new global goals are achieved, the quality of life for most of the seven billion people on the planet will be vastly improved and 2015 would be considered a monumentally historic year. 

2) Paris Climate Agreement

Coming on the heels of a successful summit to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, world leaders gathered in Paris in November and December for one last chance at striking a global climate change agreement. And they did it!  On December 13, the Paris  Climate Agreement was adopted by nearly every country on the planet. 

The agreement itself is not a cure-all for the world’s climate problems. But it is most certainly a step in the right direction and a profound demonstration that global collective action can take on even the toughest global problems. After nearly two decades of stagnant climate diplomacy, the world now has a fighting chance to stem the worst effects of climate change and pave the way for a post-carbon future.  

3) Ebola was defeated

At the start of 2015, the fight against ebola looked bleak. Tens of thousands of people had died and the disease showed little sign of abating. Just 12 months later, the entire region is now ebola free. The original chain of transmission that started in Guinea in the spring of 2014 was formally eliminated on December 28, 2015 when Guinea was declared ebola free. This remarkable achievement was the result of a massive mobilization of resources and political will that ended ebola in the three hardest hit countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The world came together in 2015 to stop this disease in its tracks, and it worked. To be sure, West Africa needs to remain vigilant--there is some evidence that ebola can live on in men’s semen and other bodily fluids for some time after symptoms subside. But the crisis as we have known it for the past 18 months is over. A disease that last year looked insurmountable has been stopped.

You can start the New Year off right by going to TAKE ACTION NOW to make the Global Goals your New Year's Resolution.