Although more than three-quarters of indicators are heading in the right direction, progress towards the Paris Agreement temperature goal is alarmingly inadequate, exposing communities, economies and ecosystems to unacceptable risks. The State of Climate Action 2025 report says that global efforts across 29 indicators are well off track, such that at least a twofold (and for most, more than a fourfold) acceleration will be required this decade to keep the 1.5°C limit within reach.
Category: Nature
10 innovations for climate action and planetary health
A new report spotlights 10 tech solutions to accelerate climate action – from carbon-locking concrete and sustainable desalination for arid regions to cars that feed the electric grid. The research maps a wave of emerging technologies with significant potential to tackle climate disruption head-on, from droughts to methane leaks to rising seas. The report focuses on food, water, energy and materials – key systems for a stable planet – showing how science can safeguard planetary health and curb destructive human activity.
Warming is making extreme wildfires more likely and more severe
New analyses of the 2024-25 fire season add to the growing evidence base that warming is making extreme wildfires more likely and more severe. Some of the most prominent extreme wildfire events of the global fire season, in Los Angeles and parts of South America, were 2-3 times more likely due to climate change, and the area burned by wildfires during those events was 25-35 times larger.
Threatened species and precious habitats to be better protected
New funding for local projects across 12 UK Overseas Territories and 36 developing countries will be rolled out over the next five years, according to the UK Government. The package will support local action to restore nature, reduce poverty and address climate change around the world. This will help protect 1.5m hectares of forest in Bolivia, recover St Helena’s cloud forest and support critically endangered eagles in the Philippines.
A new international standard to help organisations act on nature
Global biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates. ISO 17298 provides a practical framework to help organisations of all types and sizes understand how they depend on and impact nature – and take concrete action to address it. Developed by ISO’s expert committee on biodiversity (ISO/TC 331), this is the first International Standard that guides organisations in embedding biodiversity into their core strategies, operations and decision-making processes.
Poll: upholding by EU of its own environmental laws important
New online polling conducted across 10 European countries reveals that 75% of respondents rate the upholding by the European Union (EU) of its own environmental laws within EU member states as important (38% selected “very important”, 37% selected “fairly important”).
António Guterres welcomes the BBNJ Agreement
As the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction – the BBNJ Agreement – reached the required threshold of ratifications for entry into force, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed this historic achievement for the ocean and for multilateralism.
UK introduces landmark legislation to protect ocean
The UK government has introduced a landmark bill to protect two-thirds of the world’s ocean, a key source of food and oxygen for people in the UK and all over the world. This marks a major step forward in global efforts to protect marine life and ecosystems beyond national borders.
Eunomia: full subsidy removal would reduce polymer production
Eunomia’s latest report demonstrates that full subsidy removal would lead to substantial reductions in polymer production, particularly in economies with high subsidy levels. Meanwhile, the impact on consumer prices would be minimal. For fast-moving consumer goods such as bottled water, the average price increase is estimated between just 0.14% and 0.90%.
PIK and BOKU: 60% of the world’s land area is in a precarious state
A study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and BOKU University in Vienna maps the planetary boundary of “functional biosphere integrity” in spatial detail and over centuries. It finds that 60% of global land areas are now already outside the locally defined safe zone, and 38% are even in the high-risk zone. The study was published in the renowned journal ‘One Earth’.
An eco-environment monitoring network for sustainable governance
Dawei Zhang has published a paper on China’s three-dimensional monitoring system that covers air, water, terrestrial and marine environments. This outlook first reviews the achievements of China's eco-environmental monitoring network and ongoing technological advancements, then discusses the implications of China's experience for global environmental governance, and finally offers conclusions and recommendations for international collaboration.
Chestnut Carbon: financing for US afforestation in the voluntary carbon market
Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon removal developer, has announced the successful closing of a landmark non-recourse project finance credit facility of up to $210m – a first-of-its-kind bank financing for a US voluntary carbon removal afforestation project.
$2.5m for blue carbon project in Sierra Leone
FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) is investing $2.5m in West Africa Blue’s blue carbon project in Sierra Leone’s Sherbro River Estuary. FSDAi’s investment will contribute to the conservation and restoration of approximately 94,000 hectares of mangrove ecosystems across 11 chiefdoms.
11 UK peatlands to become New National Nature Reserve
A network of 11 nature-abundant lowland peat sites, between Liverpool and Manchester, are to become a King’s Series National Nature Reserve. These sites, from lowland raised bogs and fen, through to lowland heath, wet woodland and drier woodland habitats, will be restored to provide homes for rare species, such as lapwings, curlew, sundew and adders.
UK air quality: better but not good enough
UK air pollution improved between 2015 and 2024, but is still dangerous too often, research from the University of Reading says in ‘Environmental Science: Atmospheres’. Scientists from the University studied pollution at more than 500 monitoring sites around the UK. They found that two types of pollution got better over the decade: nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is mainly produced by traffic, fell by 35% on average at monitoring sites; and fine particles called PM2.5, which are small enough to get deep into lungs, dropped by 30%.