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Happy New Year!
As global warming breaks 1.5 degrees Celsius, you’d be forgiven for assuming this is the death knell for the Paris Agreement.
But this is no time to concede defeat to the climate crisis.
There are still battles to be fought, and they’ll only get tougher as climate deniers are elected and social media goes further off the rails than ever. So, where does it go from here?
Find out in the first ThinkLandscape digest of 2025, where we celebrate small victories, gear up for another Trump U.S. presidency and debate the ethics of climate finance for Afghanistan.
There may only be one COP this year, but there’s plenty more happening that you won’t want to miss. Here’s our list of climate events in 2025.
The climate crisis is fueling bigger wildfires than ever, but did you know that these wildfires are in turn making the climate crisis worse? Enter the fire feedback loop.
Fossil fuels are still the biggest climate culprits – which is why Big Oil is recruiting Instagrammers and TikTokers to make you forget that.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is building an eco-city in the desert that isn’t nearly as green as it wants you to believe.
But that didn’t stop the country from hosting the UNCCD COP16 desertification summit – the last of 2024’s three Rio Convention COPs.
From Hurricane Milton to the floods in southern Brazil, here are the top 10 worst climate disasters of 2024 – the hottest year ever recorded.
Last year, the climate crisis also caused an extra 41 days of extreme heat, while droughts and floods forced 40 million people from their homes.
The Arctic tundra has stored carbon underground for thousands of years – but for how much longer?
Is karma coming for the fossil fuel industry? Many of the world’s biggest oil ports will be underwater within a century.
After five months in jail in Greenland, anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been released after Denmark refused to extradite him to Japan.
New Year’s Eve fireworks aren’t just terrifying for pets – they also disturb wildlife and produce lethal air pollution.
An Indigenous Kichwa community is celebrating a major legal victory against the Peruvian government, which it accuses of having stolen its ancestral lands.
In the Indian state of Maharashtra, an Adivasi community has used its restored land rights to build a profitable bamboo business.
Mosquitoes spread deadly diseases like malaria, dengue and yellow fever – but could they also help deliver vaccines against them?
Scientists have identified 27 new species on an expedition in northwestern Peru, despite the region being densely populated by humans.
South America’s spectacled bears are dwindling. These Colombian coffee farmers are stepping in to protect them.
At least 32 dolphins have died after two Russian tankers ran aground in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea, spilling some 3,700 tons of fuel oil.
Humans have reshaped virtually every corner of the planet. Here are a few ways nature has adapted to our presence.
There’s a lot that we still don’t know about Africa’s native forests, which is why these scientists are climbing trees to find out more.
Climate crisis or not, the world is using more coal than ever before – and we’ll probably continue to do so until at least 2027.
TikTok is full of climate denialism, while Facebook and Instagram are getting rid of their fact checkers despite being equally plagued with disinformation.
Shell has settled its lawsuit against Greenpeace, with the campaign group set to donate GBP 300,000 to charity instead.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has filed criminal complaints against Apple for allegedly using conflict minerals in its supply chain.
This Scotch whisky distillery is turning wastewater into sustainable fish feed, while Kenya offers valuable lessons in growing your own toilet paper.
The EU has signed a landmark free trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc. Here’s what that could mean for the planet – and for farmers.
In one of his final acts as U.S. president, Joe Biden has banned new offshore oil and gas drilling along most of the country’s coastline.
But with Donald Trump returning to the White House in two weeks, will it make a difference?
The Taliban caused quite a stir by showing up at COP29. Here’s why the world should – and shouldn’t – offer climate finance to Afghanistan’s rogue regime.
Australia is expanding four coal mines, ignoring criticism from the Pacific Island countries with whom it hopes to co-host COP31 next year.
Taiwan is the world’s biggest producer of computer chips. Could that sink the island nation’s climate commitments?
Finally…
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