Article
Climate Wins to Celebrate as We Enter 2025
Although the pace of progress is still too slow, and some world leaders continue to drag their feet on the green transition, bright spots of rapid change are emerging around the globe—often outpacing expectations. As we step into 2025, let’s explore some encouraging climate breakthroughs that are delivering a more sustainable future.
💚85 million electric vehicles on our roads
Global electric vehicle (EV) sales hit a third consecutive record high in 2024, up 32% year-on-year. By the end of 2025, global EV adoption is expected to hit 85 million, including cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks, according to a forecast from Gartner, Inc. This would mean a 33% increase compared to 2024.
💚Renewable energy surpass coal—and gets cheaper
In early 2025, renewables will surpass coal to become the largest source of electricity generation worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency, IEA. In both the UK and Germany, renewable sources generated more electricity than fossil fuels in 2024.
The cost for these clean energy sources have dropped massively in the past years. Solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by 90% in the last decade, onshore wind by 70%, and batteries by more than 90%.
💚Green jobs are booming
LinkedIn’s Global Climate Talent Stocktake 2024 highlights that global demand for green talent increased by 11.6% from 2023 to 2024. However, supply grew by only 5.6%, which means workers who increase their green skills have a bright future ahead of them. Globally, 20.6% of construction job postings now require green skills.
Across the OECD, 20% of the workforce is already today employed in green-driven occupations, also considering jobs that do not directly contribute to emission reductions but are likely to be in demand because they provide goods and services needed for green activities. According to LinkedIn, the size of the green talent pool needs to double by 2050—at a bare minimum—to keep pace with projected demand.
💚EU emissions keep falling—while economy keeps growing
Emissions fell by 4% in Q1 and 2.6% in Q2, while GDP grew by 0.3% and 1%, respectively, compared to the same quarters in 2023, according to the latest statistics. This demonstrates that climate action and economic growth can go hand in hand.
Another positive development to note here is that greenhouse gas emissions are now reported on a quarterly basis, along with socio-economic data, such as GDP or employment.
💚Green investments—from risk to opportunity
Demand keeps growing for initiatives and leadership that will address major risks and unlock opportunities, according to Schroders 2025 Sustainable Investment Outlook. 77% of North American institutional investors are currently investing in the energy transition or plan to in the next one to two years. Climate risk awareness is increasingly being integrated in investing processes, and there is an increased focus by investors on the physical risks of climate. Investors are also increasingly interested in addressing biodiversity risks in their portfolios, reports the Financial Times.
💚2025—a year of increased transparency and accountability
NDCs: All countries that have signed the Paris Agreement must update their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) every 5 years, and the next deadline for updating these roadmaps to carbon neutrality is February 2025. The NDCs must include clear implementation strategies, including financing, policy reforms, and sector-specific actions, to achieve their targets.
The U.S. set a high bar for ambition with its recent NDC announcement, which included a 61-66% reduction in economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 relative to 2005 levels. The UK and Brazil have similarly contributed to an ambitious standard with their recently updated NDCs.
CSRD: Also in 2025, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will play a transformative role in shaping corporate transparency and accountability regarding sustainability. Starting from January 2025, large European companies will be required to report on sustainability metrics for the financial year 2024. This includes non-European Union companies with substantial business operations in the EU.
The CSRD will create standardized sustainability reporting formats, enabling better comparability across industries and regions. This will benefit investors, stakeholders, and regulators by providing consistent, reliable, and actionable data.
EV batteries: Starting in February, the carbon footprint must be calculated for every battery in any EV sold in the EU. The carbon footprint must cover the four key lifecycle stages of the battery: mineral extraction and pre-processing, cell manufacture, distribution, and recycling.
💚Solar energy keeps growing exponentially—and costs keep dropping
Solar has so far outpaced even the most optimistic scenarios. In 2004, it took the world a whole year to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity. In 2023, one gigawatt was occasionally installed in a single day. According to the IEA, solar alone will meet roughly half of the global electricity demand growth in 2025. In 2026 solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants. What’s more, every time global capacity has doubled, solar panel prices have fallen by around 20%.
💚China’s oil demand peaks five years earlier than expected
China’s oil demand is expected to peak in 2025, five years ahead of schedule. And it’s not only in China where current oil demand is lower than expected. OPEC recently cut its 2024 global oil and gas forecast for the fifth straight month and by the largest amount this year. OPEC has also reduced its growth forecast for 2025. Half of the world's economies are now already at least five years past a peak in fossil power.
💚Battery storage
In 2025, some 80 gigawatts of new grid-scale energy storage will be added globally, an eight-fold increase from 2021. This makes battery storage the fastest-growing energy technology in the world. But it needs to increase even faster from now on. To triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 while maintaining electricity security, energy storage needs to increase six-fold.
💚Increased action on methane reduction
Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is an essential complement to CO2 mitigation. Just a few days before Christmas, the U.S. Presidential Administration announced it will include a methane reduction of at least 35% by 2035 in its updated NDC for 2035.
Additionally, at COP29 in Baku, countries accounting for nearly 50% of global methane emissions from organic waste declared their commitment to set targets for reducing methane from organic waste in future NDCs. This includes 7 of the world’s 10 largest organic waste methane emitters.
Thanks to advanced satellite-based tracking tools, like MethaneSAT and Climate TRACE, methane emissions can now be easily tracked anywhere in the world, making the problem much easier to address.
Via our #BuyMoreTime campaign, We Don’t Have Time will keep pushing for increased action on reducing methane and other short-lived super pollutants in 2025. Learn more and sign the #BuyMoreTime letter to call for a legally binding international agreement on methane emissions.
💚Coal demand keeps falling in most advanced economies
Coal demand in most advanced economies peaked a few years ago and keeps falling, according to a new coal report by the IEA. By 2025, the coal consumed in the European Union and the United States combined will be less than half the amount used in India.
The number of proposed coal plants in the 38 mainly developed members of the OECD has decreased from 142 in 2015 to five today—a 96% drop. As the UK closed its last coal-fired power plant in 2024, one-third of OECD nations are now coal-free.
China might have hit peak oil in 2024, but coal is still growing in a few emerging economies, such as India, Indonesia and Viet Nam. Global coal demand is set to plateau in the next three years, reaching around 8.87 billion tonnes by 2027—and then start declining.
💚Shipping is finally starting to decarbonize
Starting January 1, 2025, the FuelEU Maritime Regulation mandates the use of low-carbon fuels for vessels operating in EU-related voyages. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expects the industry to achieve a 5% reduction in carbon intensity this year compared to 2020 levels, and at COP29, more than 50 leaders across the marine shipping value chain signed a call to action to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission fuels. Innovation to cut emissions is booming, electric ferries are popping up in many port cities, the world’s first hydrogen car ferry is in operation, and container ships powered by green hydrogen are set to hit the water in 2025.
--- This article is written by Ingmar Rentzhog, CEO and Founder of Wedonthavtime.org
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5 d
Great news!
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6 d
Hej Det ska blir skönt för Scanina När dom får sina nya batterier från Nortvholt Kjell Nattavaara
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1 w
These are major wins and we keep hoping that 2025 is the year to have absolutely transparent conversations that will propel all climate targets in the right trajectory
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1 w
The fact that progress is noticed shows that we are headed to a better future
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1 w
This shows we are moving in the right direction, positive thoughts, vision together and ideas brought about, responsibility we can accomplish a lot.
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1 w
Wow
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2 w
With the right amount of commitment and willingness all this is achievable
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2 w
with continued effort and collaboration, we can accelerate the green transition and push past the barriers holding us back.
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2 w
Let’s keep pushing forward with hope and determination... Together, we have the power to create lasting change and make 2025 a year of real climate victories!
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1 w
@princess_nel_268 nice
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2 w
Wow! That's very positive atleast there is huge hope. Let's keep pushing.