How the planet fared in 2025 — the good, the bad, and the ugly

⭐ Join our community and access the best we offer!

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on Grist or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: 2025 was a defining year for the planet, marked by climate extremes, policy setbacks, and critical environmental thresholds
• From deadly wildfires and floods to stalled global climate action, the year showed how deeply climate change is reshaping lives, ecosystems, and economies, even as clean energy continued to surge

🔭 The context: The year opened with catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles and ended as one of the hottest years on record
• Scientists confirmed humanity crossed new planetary boundaries, including ocean acidification, while coral reefs passed their first major tipping point
• At the same time, the Trump administration rolled back major U.S. climate policies, and COP talks failed to agree on winding down fossil fuels

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The environmental implications are stark: intensified wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and biodiversity loss are no longer future risks but present realities
• Crossing tipping points in oceans and coral reefs threatens food systems, coastal protection, and marine life
• Without faster emissions cuts, warming trajectories of 2.3–2.8°C could lock in irreversible damage to Earth’s life-support systems

⏭️ What’s next: Despite setbacks, momentum continues
• Renewables overtook coal globally for the first time, electric vehicles surged in key markets, and cities and states stepped up climate action
• The coming years will determine whether these positive trends can outpace political resistance and ecological decline

💬 One quote: “In a lot of ways, we’ll look back on 2025 as a critical moment, both for the environment and humanity”

📊 One stat: Half of the world’s live coral cover has disappeared in just 50 years, pushing reefs past a global tipping point

See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance — carbon credit purchases, total emissions, and climate targets of thousands of companies

Click for more news covering the latest on climate change