News & Comment

A decade ago, the Paris Agreement was adopted, which was a landmark for international climate governance. In this infographic, we reflect on the progress that has been made as well as some of the challenges that still lie ahead, such as policy agenda, social change and technology development.

December 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of adoption of the Paris Agreement. Although we have seen both achievements and disappointments in the past decade, we believe that the Paris Agreement will keep playing a key role in international climate actions.

Restrictions on civil society may drive climate activists to shift from protest to litigation. However, challenges to judicial independence, deregulation and anti-climate litigation mean that activists need to consider the conditions under which litigation leads to strengthened climate ambition and implementation.

Standardized quantitative emissions benchmarking is essential for corporate climate accountability, yet recent literature has critiqued this approach. We argue for structured pluralism with budget compliance — balancing methodological flexibility while preserving the disciplining power of carbon budgets.

Causal approaches employed at the scale of commercial agriculture are required to build high-quality evidence that climate-smart agricultural interventions result in real emissions reductions and removals. Such project-scale empirical data are additionally required to demonstrate and advance the viability of process-based models and digital measurement, reporting and verification as tools to scale soil carbon accounting.

C40 is a global network of mayors united in a commitment to climate change action. Since its inception in 2005, C40 has grown to include nearly 100 of the world’s cities, maintaining high standards that focus on inclusivity, collaboration and science-based approaches to combat climate change. We interviewed members of the C40 organization, including mayors of its member cities, to ask about the history, success and challenges of C40, and their plans for future action.

Nearly one-third of the global shoreline is in the Arctic, a region undergoing some of the most rapid warming and substantial environmental transitions due to climate change. While Arctic research has largely focused on terrestrial and open-ocean systems, there is now an urgent need to focus on the unique challenges associated with changing coastal ecosystems.

Cities will face increasing risk along with intensified climate shocks but can also act as key agents for mitigation and adaptation. We hope to see more research that could lead to enhanced climate action by providing comprehensive, equitable and practical solutions.

The role of climate science is changing — fast. Once positioned to inform policy, scientific assessments are increasingly being used in courtrooms to substantiate claims of harm, causation and state responsibility. Climate knowledge has now become legal evidence in the fight for climate justice.

Africa’s future climate could be shaped by solar radiation management (SRM) decisions made elsewhere. To ensure these technologies, if ever pursued, reflect principles of justice and local priorities, Africa must move from passive recipient to active leader in SRM research, governance and public engagement.

Terrestrial ecosystems take up approximately a third of anthropogenically emitted carbon and are a key component of climate mitigation strategies. However, recent evidence indicates constraints on land-based carbon uptake and mitigation potential.