Search Climate Insights Directory

In 2025, record solar and wind growth met 99% of global electricity demand increases, causing fossil fuel generation to decline for the first time since 2020. Renewables surpassed coal as a share of global electricity generation for the first time in a century, reaching 33.8%.

The global electricity sector has transitioned from fossil-fuelled growth to clean growth, with clean power meeting all global demand growth in 2025. This shift is driven largely by the plateauing of fossil generation in China and the rapid scale-up of solar and wind power. Battery storage is now emerging as a critical technology to displace fossil fuels during non-daylight hours, particularly in high-solar regions.

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity demand and supply trends in 2025 and over the preceding two decades. It details the growth of low-carbon sources, specifically solar and wind, and the relative decline of fossil fuels, while noting the impact of weather and policy on national energy mixes.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines agricultural reforms in China, Brazil, and Egypt to identify potential lessons for improving productivity and food security in Africa.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics explains the mechanisms of El Niño, its interaction with climate change, and its global socio-economic and environmental impacts. It highlights a 61% chance of an El Niño event emerging between May and July 2026, noting that human-caused warming is likely increasing the frequency and severity of such events, while simultaneously making them harder to predict.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines the impact of various global carbon tax scenarios on Africa's energy transition and economic future, specifically highlighting the 'Sustainable Africa' scenario.

The Forest Declaration Assessment submitted a formal response to the COP30 Presidency's call for inputs on the Roadmap for halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. The submission identifies systemic barriers and proposes high-impact, actionable measures across four clusters: ambition and planning, rights and governance, trade and real-economy incentives, and finance and financial systems.

This fact sheet by Transforma, published in April 2026, argues for an orderly and just transition away from fossil fuels in Latin America and the Caribbean. It highlights the region's extreme climate vulnerability, the economic risks of stranded assets, and the persistence of fossil fuel subsidies despite the region possessing the world's cleanest electricity matrix. The document calls for binding roadmaps for fossil fuel exit, particularly in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, and emphasizes the need for a 'Just Transition Mechanism' to support territories and workers.

This research paper by Jakkie Cilliers analyzes the failure of UN Security Council (UNSC) reform, attributing the deadlock to the entrenched positions of negotiating blocks and the P5 members' desire to maintain the veto power and their associated privileges.

The 60th meeting of the Executive Council of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held on January 8, 2026, focused on the institutional and financial crisis triggered by the United States' withdrawal from the organization. The Council discussed severe budget reductions, the need for institutional restructuring, and efforts to diversify funding through development banks and philanthropic organizations. The meeting concluded with the decision to convene an Extraordinary Conference of the Parties in March 2026 to address these challenges.

WRI Brasil supported Rio de Janeiro in securing a $135.2 million World Bank loan to improve road safety around public schools and expand sustainable mobility infrastructure.

This briefing paper argues that the proposed United Nations Legally Binding Instrument (LBI) to regulate transnational corporations is a critical structural lever for achieving environmental justice. It contends that existing voluntary frameworks are inadequate to stop corporate-driven ecological destruction and that the LBI can transform the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE) into enforceable obligations, ensuring corporate liability and access to remedy across transnational value chains.

This briefing paper argues for the necessity of a legally binding United Nations instrument to regulate transnational corporations and other businesses as a structural lever for environmental justice. It contends that current voluntary frameworks are insufficient to ensure corporate accountability for ecological destruction and human rights violations, particularly in the Global South.

The Climate Bonds Initiative's 2025 report details the state of the global aligned GSS+ (green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked) debt market, which reached a cumulative volume of USD 6.8 trillion by the end of 2025. The report highlights the continued dominance of green bonds, the growth of sustainability-labelled debt, and the emergence of adaptation and resilience (A&R) finance as a significant new frontier, exemplified by the launch of the Climate Bonds Resilience Taxonomy (CBRT).

The summary of the 12th Meeting of the San Giorgio Group (SGG12), convened by the Climate Policy Initiative in March 2026, outlines a strategic framework to accelerate climate-development alignment. The meeting focused on moving from incremental interventions to systemic transformation by leveraging 'relevance, resilience, and resolve' to scale climate finance and improve country-level delivery.

The global pipeline for wind and utility-scale solar projects grew by 11% in 2025, reaching 4.9 TW. While China and India lead in construction and prospective capacity, G7 nations show stagnant growth in their pipelines, creating a gap in meeting the COP28 goal to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.

This research paper by Ieva Baršauskaitė and Antoine Bonnet analyzes the transition of trade-related climate measures from abstract policy debates to practical implementation between 2025 and early 2026. It examines the evolving roles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in managing issues of transparency, interoperability, and development equity, positioning the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) as a critical juncture for consolidating these international efforts.

The Indigenous Advisory Group (IAG) of the Banks and Biodiversity Initiative calls on financial institutions to maintain the zero-deforestation criteria of the Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM) to mitigate biodiversity loss, protect Indigenous Peoples' rights, and manage financial risks.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development analyzes the state of World Trade Organization (WTO) agriculture negotiations ahead of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14). It outlines persistent disagreements over domestic support, public stockholding, and market access, while identifying three specific areas where progress could be made for least developed countries (LDCs): reducing cotton subsidies, improving market access for cotton products, and securing exemptions from export restrictions.

This guide, published by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in February 2026, provides structured 'Litigation Notes' to help lawyers integrate the findings of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) July 23, 2025, Advisory Opinion (AO) on State obligations regarding climate change into current and future legal cases. The document breaks down the ICJ's conclusions into thematic areas, including government framework litigation, adaptation, remedies and reparations, the right to a healthy environment, corporate conduct, climate finance, speculative interventions, and regulatory backsliding. It aims to translate the ICJ's normative clarity into practical tools for promoting climate justice across national, regional, and international courts.