Climate, nature and energy at Davos 2025

With 2024 officially the hottest year on record, accelerating progress towards achieving climate and nature goals is critical for the health of the planet and its people.

The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos is bringing together leaders to forge innovative partnerships and dialogue to enable investments in climate and clean technologies - and work towards achieving equitable, secure and sustainable energy systems.

The week’s sessions come as US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement. In many respects, the attitude has been one of ‘business as usual’ with participants describing a situation where climate activity is so entrenched that policy and action towards net zero and the shift to decarbonization will continue, regardless.

For Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group (IKEA), “the roadmap to transformation has started. It’s massive. It’s unstoppable.” Echoing this sentiment, Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, suggested that “we are already collaborating at a scale where no one can stop; not one country, not one leader making a decision, because it’s just the right thing to do globally.” While, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, suggested that in the competitive market that has emerged “anyone who steps back … will create a vacuum that others will fill”.

Themes that have emerged over the week included the fact that we're beginning to see the full effects of climate change, and that we can expect worse in coming years and decades; the need to speed up climate activity, particularly mitigation but also in the short term, adaptation; the growing costs of inaction; the urgency to include indigenous knowledge as we seek to restore the Earth; the need for business to go beyond target setting and implement climate-related action, and viewing climate change as something that cross-cuts all sectors and aspects of life.

All times below are in GMT+1.

Tuesday 21 January

European_Deal: Industrial, Clean or Green

Unity was the defining element. The participants upheld the Green Deal as the goal, but called for a change in its focus towards, in Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo’s words, to become more “open on the way to achieve it”.

To face the challenge of decarbonization, described by France's Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci as “the biggest challenge in centuries,” the participants called for less reporting and red tape. Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of Volvo, argued that the “regulatory landscape is starting to be a curse,” while Novonesis' President and CEO, Ester Baiget, called for something “less painful”.

Road to COP30

Participants discussed key elements of the agenda for COP30 in Brazil and how can all stakeholder groups unlock a new era for collaboration on climate and nature.

Helder Barbalho, Governor of the Amazonian State of Pará, revealed that: “COP30 is going to be about putting things into practice so that everything we've been discussing, everything we've been building so far and what we're trying to raise awareness about can actually become a reality at the scale that's needed.”

The Geoeconomics of Energy and Materials

IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol, joined leaders from politics and business to discuss where leaders should focus their attention to effectively shape the geoeconomics of energy and materials.

Turning the Tide on Ocean

SeaLegacy Co-Founder and Lead Storyteller, Cristina Mittermeier, stressed our unity with Planet Earth and its oceans, suggesting that: “If you want to talk about solutions for Planet Earth, we have three that have been working for thousands of years – biodiversity, the Ocean, and the knowledge of indigenous peoples.”

Aligning the Three Nature Markets

Carbon credit markets offer a funding stream for environmental projects, but what are the merits – and challenges – to extending this model to other areas of nature, such as biodiversity and water credit markets? Questions that were raised included how to quantify something like biodiversity, which has such intrinsic but difficult to measure value, do we risk commodifying nature, and whether it would be possible to add these types of credits to existing carbon credit schemes.

Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam concluded that we should “find all the imperfect meachnisms and find way to make them work better".

Road to Tripling Nuclear Capacity

Nature and Climate: A Stocktake

Earth is losing resilience, was the headline finding of this session. Already, six of the nine planetary tipping points are operating outside safe limits, leaving us on the cusp of irreversible decline. Greater action from business was urged, with a push for evidence of transition rather than target setting.

How to Make Carbon Pricing Effective

COP29 marked a significant milestone with the operationalization of a global carbon credit market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. How we take this forward is a big question, particularly in light of some of the questions regarding integrity that have dogged some carbon credit schemes.

Chile’s Environment Minister, Maisa Rojas Corradi, suggested that in light of the scale of the transformation that is needed that “we should use all the tools available to us, including carbon credits”.

Wednesday 22 January

Safeguarding Nature, Securing People

This session discussed how nature underpins peace and security. Numerous conflicts can be linked to the environment’s degradation, and as degradation continues, further unrest worldwide – whether in the form of all-out conflict or divisive politics – is expected. Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister and Climate Envoy, called for better attention to be paid at the start of an unfolding problem, underscoring how much less this would cost us on many levels.

Water at a Tipping Point

It is forecast that one-half of the world’s population will suffer water stress by 2030. In terms of planetary health, the fresh water tipping point has already been breached, and is deteriorating. This timely session saw panellists discuss what needs to change in our water management with a focus on innovation, greater funding, collaboration, better pricing, as well as better maintenance and stronger, and better regulation.

A key issue to emerge was the priority for water reuse; as Ecolab’s Chairman and CEO, Christophe Beck, put it, “the need to redesign our processes in ways that water never leaves the site,” which Fabrizio Palermo, CEO and General Manager of Acea, tagged as “the need for net-zero for water”.

Defending Earth's Largest Lung

This session saw the announcement of the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor, the world’s largest tropical forest reserve located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Not only is it as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, but it is home to a rich biodiversity and many unique and iconic species. It is envisaged that through the reserve, the authorities will be able to build a green economy without undermining the environment.

The country’s president, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, described it as “a model of transparency, governance and fair competition in a region in search of green development”.

What's Going on with the Weather?

Extreme weather events are intensifying in severity and frequency and have become common phenomena globally. Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research joined Jane Nelson, Founding Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative and Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to talk about what business can do to manage and mitigate the risks and impacts of extreme weather.

Seeing Earth, Deeply

Yana Gevorgyan, Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations (GEO), revealed how rapid technological advancements in Earth observation (EO) satellites, AI and other technologies are unveiling unprecedented views of our planet.

State of Climate and Nature

10 years on from the anniversary of the historic Paris Agreement, the world is not yet on track to meet its goals. Former US Vice President Al Gore joined Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, and business leaders discuss the innovation and partnerships that can turn crisis into progress for people and planet.

Thursday 23 January

New Trilemma: Climate, Development and the Middle-Class

OECD countries are expected to spend a yearly budget of 2% of their GDP on green industrial policies in the coming years, a tenfold increase from pre-COVID times. As governments in advanced economies multiply efforts to combat climate change and restore the prospects of the middle class in their countries, they risk closing traditional global pathways to development. The panel discussed how we can accelerate climate mitigation while reducing global poverty and protecting workers and consumers in advanced economies.

Opportunities of the Ocean Economy

The ocean economy contributes more than $2.5 billion to global GDP annually. The panel considered how ocean-reliant sectors like shipping, ports, food, energy and tourism can drive a regenerative ocean economy, which benefits both humans and marine conservation.

Open Forum: Making the Case for Nature

The need to rethink our attitude towards wealth, economic systems and the health and well-being of the planet dominated this forum. The panel, three of whom spoke from the position of representing their respective indigenous peoples, talked of the need to listen and learn from nature, live alongside nature, operate within its boundaries, and the developing trend to give nature legal rights.

New Agreement on Plastics: What Will It Take?

In December 2024, more than 170 countries gathered to conclude a global treaty to reach a plastic pollution-free world by 2040. While negotiations were inconclusive, the countries sought to complete the process in 2025, highlighting an urgent, time-bound need to bridge remaining areas of divergence. The panel discussed the challenges of the current voluntary plastics schemes, why a treaty is very much needed, their fears that its provisions will be watered down, and how business and government can be supported to tackle the issue in the interim.

All Hands on Deck for the Energy Transition

With the global targets of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 fast approaching, it is critical to accelerate the implementation, build political momentum and monitor progress. The panel discussed the ways - and tools at their disposal - by which industry and countries can address this gap. Among these was the Scale Up Clean Energy for Africa campaign.

Green Ambitions, Real Trade-Offs

More than one-half of the world's largest 2,000 companies have embedded climate targets in their corporate strategy, though less than 20% of them consider the impact of such targets on workers, communities, consumers or supply chains. The panel discussed the risks to business from the changing climate and what actions the private sector can take as part of an equitable green transition.

Threat of Insurance Deserts

Insurance premiums for climate resilience and natural catastrophe protection are set to rise by 50% by 2030. In several high-profile cases, property and casualty coverage has been withdrawn from specific geographies, creating “insurance deserts”. The panel discussed the veracity of the concept, the mounting risks from climate change, the immediate need for adaptation coupled with longer-term mitigation policies, and how public-private partnerships have great potential to offer solutions and interesting opportunities.

Friday 24 January

On Firmer Ground with Land Restoration

The panel urged for greater progress on land restoration, which as moderator, Sir Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the, Bezos Earth Fund pointed out is an incredible means by which to take the carbon that's so destructive in the atmosphere into the soil where it is essential to supporting life through farming. Underscoring a recurring theme of the pillar, greater public-private collaboration was urged, with speakers calling for more innovation, greater funding and better, more conducive policy and regulation.

The financing of a lower-carbon economy is one of the defining challenges of our era. This white paper offers a timely exploration of the transition finance gap, a critical fault line in global efforts to meet climate goals. The gap is not simply one of capital and business case, but also of public policy and frameworks.

Transitioning from linear to circular models poses challenges such as committing resources and building the expertise and partnerships necessary for circular transformation. Overcoming these requires a shift in mindset and business strategy. This white paper suggests enabling strategies that can help navigate complexities and unlock economic value.

Retrofits are readily available solutions for achieving net-zero emissions and creating a sustainable and resilient built environment, all in a financially positive way. This white paper, in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, examines the expanding market for building retrofits and advocates for circular economy practices in the sector.

Accelerating the decarbonization of industry – responsible for 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – is more urgent than ever. While companies are adopting measures to cut emissions, barriers to buy-in, carbon calculation, mitigation across value chains and green business growth hinder their efforts. This white paper explores how businesses can overcome these barriers and accelerate the transition to net zero by cooperating with public stakeholders.

The Nature Positive Transitions report series explores transformative pathways to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Each report identifies sector-specific material impacts on nature, such as pollution, land-use change and resource use, and offers actionable recommendations to align business practices with global biodiversity and climate goals. Key strategies include enhancing circularity, improving water stewardship, advancing cross-sector collaboration and supporting nature conservation and restoration.

With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, speeding up the pace of climate adaptation is critical. This white paper argues adaptation must be at the core of every organization’s climate strategy, but it cannot stop there: vulnerability to climate change is tied to the resilience of the entire value chain. Most adaptation strategies are narrowly focused on individual organizations or regions, yet the ripple effects of climate change extend far further.

Extreme heat is the deadliest climate risk, responsible for 489,000 deaths annually. It is also rapidly becoming the costliest climate risk, projected to result in $2.4 trillion in annual productivity losses and $445 billion in annual fixed-asset losses for publicly listed companies by 2035. Written in collaboration with Allianz, this report outlines strategies for insurers, policy-makers and other stakeholders to build and sustain resilience against extreme heat.

Climate change-related extreme weather events and risks are increasingly evident, underscoring the need for swifter, wider and deeper action on climate and the energy transition.

The Global Risks Report 2025 - the Forum's annual survey of Chief Risk Officers - finds extreme weather events are the second biggest risk in terms of severity in the next two years, and the biggest risk over the coming 10 years. Environmental risks, including biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, make up the majority of the top 5 over the long term.

The good news is that progress is being made in providing modern, clean energy for all, but experts continue to call for action to meet the estimated annual $1.7 trillion needed for the clean energy transition in emerging and developing economies.

The Forum’s newly launched Playbook of Solutions showcases 100 policy, finance, and de-risking solutions from 47 countries to unlock clean energy finance.

A scaling up of ambition, governance, partnerships and capital is necessary to accelerate decarbonization efforts to reach net zero, invest in nature-positive transition pathways and ensure the circularity and resilience of resource systems overall.

Governments worldwide face the dilemma of needing to provide sufficient affordable energy to consumers and power growth, while also shifting economies to grow with improved energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

With technology consuming ever-more energy as the Intelligent Age unfolds, this trade-off will become increasingly critical and solving it will require a sufficiently strong economic and business case for clean energy technologies.

These are some of our key publications from the past 12 months:

Electric vehicles (EV) will play a pivotal role in the transport sector’s transition to zero emissions. While global sales are surging, in many cities the development of publicly-available charging infrastructure is not progressing quickly enough to meet this growing demand. This paper offers a strategic policy roadmap that city governments can use to scale investment in EV charging infrastructure.

Investing in natural capital is crucial for sustainable socioeconomic development, as over half of global GDP significantly depends on nature and biodiversity. However, natural capital, which includes essential natural resources such as forests, water and soil, is in significant decline today. This insight report aims to provide a framework for evaluating how innovation can mobilize more investment for natural capital.

The energy transition is progressing but has lost momentum in the face of increasing global uncertainty, according to the World Economic Forum's Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2024 report. The Energy Transition Index (ETI), which benchmarks 120 countries on their current energy system performance and on the readiness of their enabling environment, finds that while there has been notable progress in energy efficiency and a marked increase in the adoption of clean energy sources, energy transition momentum has been held back by setbacks in energy equity, driven by rising energy prices in recent years. Energy security also continues to be tested by geopolitical risks.

This report provides a comprehensive set of key actions that stakeholders along the entire aviation value chain should take to move towards 10% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 and subsequent sector decarbonization by 2050.