Top nature stories of 2024: Key wins and challenges

The Forum’s Champions for Nature: Raising Ambition, Sustaining Impact report captures key insights from its community of leaders, in areas from environmental policy to the inclusion of Indigenous people.

The year 2024 brought both alarming environmental challenges and signs of hope. Here are the top nature stories that shaped the planet's future:

Scientists issued a red alert in September, warning that six critical planetary systems have crossed their functional thresholds. These include land system change, freshwater availability, and biosphere alterations. Ocean acidification is nearing its boundary, while two—atmospheric aerosol levels and stratospheric ozone—remain within safe limits.

Three major global conferences on climate, biodiversity, and land made 2024 historic. COP29 in Baku was dubbed the first "finance COP," mobilizing $300 billion in climate finance and creating a global framework for carbon markets.

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