Tackling the climate crisis with bold action will increase nations’ economic growth instead of damaging it as net-zero policy critics have claimed, according to new research from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Ambitious goals and implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a net gain in gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide by 2030, the report said.

“Climate action has gained momentum over the past decade, driving real economic opportunities. However, current efforts are not keeping pace with rising risks. Our planet is dangerously close to crossing the 1.5˚C temperature guardrail, and current actions are not far or fast enough to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. Countries remain reluctant to scale up their climate actions and ambitions, fearing harm to their economies. This jeopardises the future of both our planet and its people,” a press release from OECD said.

The net gain to the global economy is projected to be 0.23 percent by 2040, but increases the following decade if emissions are reduced.

“The overwhelming evidence that we now have is that we are not regressing if we invest in climate transitions. We actually see a modest increase in GDP growth, that may look small at first… but quickly grows,” said UNDP Executive Secretary Achim Steiner at the Europe 2025 Conference in Berlin on Tuesday, as The Guardian reported.

The world’s most advanced economies would see a gain of 60 percent in per capita GDP from 2025 levels by mid-century, with lower-income nations experiencing a 124 percent rise.

Developing countries would also benefit in the shorter term if governments invested in reducing emissions, with 175 million people no longer being in poverty by 2030.

However, if the climate crisis continues unabated, a third of the world’s GDP could be lost by 2100.

“Climate action is losing momentum, while accelerating it is needed to secure prosperity. Mounting economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and rising public debts are shifting priorities and straining government budgets, particularly for climate,” the press release said.

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, on Wednesday warned that the climate could plunge Europe into a “permanent recession” if the climate crisis is not addressed head-on.

“From unprecedented storms hitting Europe’s west coast and heatwaves, to droughts in Sicily and floods across central Europe, climate-driven disasters are slashing food production and destroying infrastructure, businesses, homes and communities,” Stiell said in a speech in Berlin. “And the climate crisis could carve up to 2.3% off Europe’s GDP by mid-century – a recipe for permanent recession, meaning continuously shrinking economies, failing businesses, and significantly increased unemployment.”

New and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) were due last month, but just 19 countries submitted their updated NDCs by that time.

“Any slowdown in climate action risks delaying much-needed investments, weakening economic resilience and increasing climate damages. The cost of insufficient action is clear: it could threaten future development, economic stability and long-term prosperity,” the press release said. “As nations prepare their next round of climate commitments with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), now is the opportunity to change this trajectory.”

The new analysis shows that increased “climate ambition” is both achievable and makes economic sense in the near-term and for the future.

“The 2025 NDC cycle is an opportunity to build collaborative approaches around climate, development and growth priorities, broaden and strengthen ownership of development-enhancing mitigation strategies, and inform effective investment plans and strategies to mobilise public and private sources of finance to deliver action,” the press release said.

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Honeybee deaths in the United States have surged to record highs, with commercial beekeepers reporting having lost an average of 62 percent of their colonies over the winter, according to an ongoing survey by nonprofit Project Apis m.

Data for the survey was collected from 702 respondents who are responsible for roughly 1.84 million colonies — about 68 percent of the country’s bees.

“The start of the 2025 almond pollination season was met with unprecedented colony losses which have shaken the beekeeping industry. In response, Project Apis m. conducted a widespread survey to assess the breadth and severity of colony die offs within the United States,” a press release from Project Apis m. said. “These alarming numbers could significantly impact crop pollination of essential foods and harm the profitability of the nation’s agriculture industry.”

Beekeepers are used to some colony losses each year, but the severity of this season’s casualties could mean disaster for many businesses.

According to the results of the survey, respondents lost an estimated $224.8 million in direct colony losses alone. That’s based on a conservative replacement cost of $200 per colony, which does not account for the value of feed, labor and treatments to maintain the colonies.

“What do back-to-back losses mean? We already bought back in. We borrowed from our house, from our retirement, from family. We borrowed to keep the business going. Now those bees are gone. This is what it means to have back to back losses on a farm. We took a large loss two years ago. We borrowed against our long-term investments to buy back into bees. We ran our bees again. We focused on their health. We asked for help. We did what we were supposed to do. But when the losses hit again, there is no way to recover. It’s all gone. The equity on the house is gone, our retirement is gone, the family member’s money is gone. All that’s left are empty boxes. We don’t even have the dead bees. They are gone too,” said an anonymous beekeeper in response to the survey.

The high rate of decline is more than record reductions in 2024 and is on its way to being the “biggest loss of honeybee colonies in U.S. history,” said Scott McArt, a Cornell University associate professor of entomology, as The Guardian reported.

When beekeepers who did not participate in the survey were factored in, an additional $206.4 million was estimated to have been lost.

“Something real bad is going on this year,” McArt said. “We have been seeing high losses year after year but if anything it is getting worse, which is troubling. Some places are having devastating losses and there was a shortfall in pollination in some almond orchards this year. Whether these impacts will cascade to other crops remains to be seen, it’s certainly possible.”

Climate change, more effective weed management, urban sprawl and efforts to impose honeybee bans on public lands all decrease the availability of forage for bees. As forage becomes less plentiful, beekeepers have to spend more on feed supplements, which aren’t as healthy as natural nutrient sources.

Research by project Apis m. has demonstrated that cover crops can provide a valuable forage source for managed honeybee colonies on farms where they need it most.

“Those who are interested in helping American beekeepers can do so by spreading awareness of this pressing issue, speaking with members of the government, and purchasing U.S. made honey. Additionally, people can help combat one of the greatest threats facing both honey bees and wild pollinators: the increasing lack of pollinator forage,” the press release said.

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Global temperatures caused the world’s energy demand to rise at a faster-than-average pace in 2024, with increased renewables and natural gas supplying most of the additional energy needs, according to the Global Energy Review 2025 from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Following years of declines, energy consumption in advanced economies went up again, driving increased demand for renewables, gas, nuclear and coal, a press release from IEA said.

“There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy – but this new data-driven IEA report puts some clear facts on the table about what is happening globally,” said Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director. “What is certain is that electricity use is growing rapidly, pulling overall energy demand along with it to such an extent that it is enough to reverse years of declining energy consumption in advanced economies. The result is that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies increased in 2024, with renewables covering the largest share of the growth, followed by natural gas. And the strong expansion of solar, wind, nuclear power and EVs is increasingly loosening the links between economic growth and emissions.”

The report was based on the most recently available data, and covers energy demand, supply, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and the use of new energy technologies.

Last year, the world’s demand for energy rose by 2.2 percent, which was lower than the 3.2 percent growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP), but faster than the average yearly increase in demand of 1.3 percent from 2013 to 2023.

More than 80 percent of the jump in energy needs worldwide came from emerging and developing economies, except for China, where the rise in consumption was less than three percent.

Advanced economies’ energy demand grew by nearly one percent overall.

The power sector led global energy demand growth last year, with electricity consumption surging by almost 1,100 terawatt-hours — 4.3 percent — or nearly twice the annual average during the last decade.

The steep increase was driven by extreme heat worldwide, which ramped up demand for cooling, as well as by industry consumption; the growth of artificial intelligence and data centers; and the electrification of transportation.

“Record temperatures contributed significantly to the annual 0.8% rise in global CO2 emissions to 37.8 billion tonnes. But the deployment of solar PV, wind, nuclear, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 now prevents 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of 7% of global emissions,” the press release said.

Installed renewable power capacity rose to roughly 700 gigawatts in 2024, a new yearly record for the 22nd year in a row. Additions of nuclear power capacity climbed to their fifth highest level over the last three decades. These led to renewables and nuclear power providing 80 percent of the growth of global electricity generation, and, for the first time, 40 percent of the world’s total energy generation. Natural gas generation also increased.

“Nearly all of the rise in electricity demand was met by low-emissions sources, led by the record-breaking expansion of solar PV capacity, with further growth in other renewables and nuclear power. Gas demand also picked up substantially, while oil and coal consumption increased more slowly than in 2023,” the report said.

Oil demand saw slower growth, with a 0.8 percent rise last year. Oil made up less than 30 percent of total global energy demand for the first time, 50 years after peaking at 46 percent.

EV sales went up by more than 25 percent, accounting for a fifth of cars sold around the world.

“This contributed considerably to the decline in oil demand for road transport, which offset a significant proportion of the rise in oil consumption for aviation and petrochemicals,” the press release said.

Coal demand increased by one percent last year, half the rate of the year before. The IEA said intense heat waves in India and China caused more demand for cooling, which contributed over 90 percent of the total increase in the world’s coal consumption for the year.

“[I]f global weather patterns in 2023 had repeated in 2024, around half of the increase in global emissions would have been avoided. At the same time, the continued rapid adoption of clean energy technologies is limiting emissions growth, according to new analysis – avoiding 2.6 billion tonnes of additional CO2 emissions per year,” the report said.

Carbon emissions from advanced economies dropped by 1.1 percent to roughly 12 billion tons in 2024 — a level not seen in 50 years. This occurred even though the nations’ cumulative GDP is now three times as large.

As mentioned above, most of last year’s emissions growth was from developing and emerging economies besides China. However, China’s emissions growth slowed in 2024, while its per-capita emissions are currently almost twice the global average and 16 percent higher than those of advanced economies. 

“From slowing global oil demand growth and rising deployment of electric cars to the rapidly expanding role of electricity and the increasing decoupling of emissions from economic growth, many of the key trends the IEA has identified ahead of the curve are showing up clearly in the data for 2024,” Birol said.

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New research has found that the persistent sound of traffic can aggravate Galápagos yellow warblers and cause them to change their behavior, possibly because they realize their songs may be being drowned out by the noise.

The study was led by experts from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and University of Vienna’s Konrad Lorenz Research Centre.

The Galápagos Islands lie more than 500 miles off Ecuador’s coastline and are seen as a “living laboratory” because of the many unique, endemic species who call the archipelago home, a press release from ARU said.

Galápagos yellow warblers are genetically distinct from yellow warblers in the Americas and are classified as a subspecies.

The researchers found that Galápagos yellow warblers living near busy roads behaved more aggressively when recordings of another bird were played alongside traffic sounds. They said this could be due to the birds realizing that their songs, which are effectively warnings to intruders encroaching on their territory, could be being masked by the din of cars and trucks.

“Communication usually is in lieu of physical aggression but, if the communication is not possible because of noise, then they might actually engage in risky behaviours that would lead to a physical fight,” said co-author of the findings Dr. Çağlar Akçay, a behavioral ecologist at ARU, as The Guardian reported.

Since Charles Darwin first visited the Galápagos in 1835, there has been a significant rise in the number of humans living on the islands. The permanent population is growing by more than six percent a year, which means more vehicles on the roads.

“The Galapagos Islands are famous for plant and animal life which has been there for thousands of years before human beings appeared on the islands. As the population of the Islands grow[s], it is important to monitor the impact of the human population on the environment,” according to Galápagos Conservation Trust.

A Galápagos yellow warbler. Alper Yelimlies

The research team played birdsong accompanied by traffic noise from a speaker at 38 locations on the islands of Santa Cruz and Floreana. Twenty of the sites were within approximately 164 feet of the closest road, while 18 were more than 328 feet away.

The team measured the warblers’ songs, as well as aggressive, physical behaviors like coming close to the speaker and flying repeatedly over it.

The researchers observed that the warblers who lived in roadside territories displayed increased aggression, while those living farther away from roads showed less aggression in comparison to trials without noise.

“Birds use song during territorial defence as an aggressive signal. However, if external noise such as traffic interferes with the signalling, effectively blocking this communication channel, increasing physical aggression would be an appropriate response,” Akçay said in the press release.

The “roadside effect” was even apparent on Floreana Island, where there were only around 10 vehicles, suggesting minimal traffic can also impact the noise responses of Galápagos yellow warblers.

“Our results show that the change in aggressive responses in yellow warblers occurred mainly near roads. Birds occupying roadside territories on both islands, and therefore having regular experience of traffic noise, may have learned to increase physical aggression when the territorial intrusion was accompanied by traffic noise,” Akçay said.

During the noise experiments, Galápagos yellow warblers increased their songs’ minimum frequencies regardless of how close their territory was to the road, which helped cut down on the overlap between their songs and the low-frequency traffic noise. Warblers on Santa Cruz, a more populated island, extended the length of their songs when confronted with traffic noise.

“We also found some evidence of birds trying to cope with noise by adjusting their song, with yellow warblers in all habitats increasing the minimum frequency of their songs to help them be heard above the traffic noise,” Akçay added.

The findings support the theory that an individual bird’s experience with noise, or long-term selection in response to noise, allows birds to adapt and adjust aspects of their songs.

“Our study shows the importance of considering behavioural plasticity in conservation efforts and developing strategies to mitigate the effects of noise pollution on wildlife. It also highlights the significant impact of human activities on wildlife behaviour, even in relatively remote locations such as the Galápagos Islands,” Akçay said.

The study, “Galápagos yellow warblers differ in behavioural plasticity in response to traffic noise depending on proximity to road,” was published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

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Great British Energy, a new government-owned energy company in the UK, will install £180 million (approximately $232 million) worth of solar panels on hundreds of schools and hospital sites in the country.

About £80 million ($103 million) will go toward installing solar panels on about 200 schools, while another £100 million ($129 million) for rooftop solar at nearly 200 sites of the National Health Service (NHS).

Any excess energy generated that is not used by the schools or hospitals could be sold back to the local energy grid. The first solar panels are set to be installed before the end of summer 2025. 

According to Great British Energy, each school could save as much as £25,000 ($32,300) annually in energy costs. Hospitals are set to save even more, with up to £45,000 ($58,140) in savings per year if the solar is paired with battery storage technology.

Over a 30-year period, the initial investment could save the schools and hospitals as much as £400 million ($516 million) in energy costs.

“With this investment we are backing our teachers and delivering for our young people — saving schools thousands on their bills to reinvest in a brilliant education for each and every child,” Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said in a statement. “The installation of solar will not only benefit schools financially, but will support pupils to develop green skills, promoting careers in renewables and supporting growth in the clean energy workforce.”

This will be the first project by Great British Energy, which was first introduced as a publicly-owned energy company focused on clean energy development in July 2024. As the BBC reported, the program is similar to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which aims to reduce emissions of public sector buildings by 75%, compared to a 2017 baseline, by 2037.

According to Great British Energy, about 20% of schools and less than 10% of hospitals in the country have solar panels. For this first project, less than 1% of schools will receive rooftop solar, BBC reported. But this has still been considered a positive move toward more sustainable and resilient energy sources.

“For many years, schools have been keen to lead the way when it comes to sustainable and greener energy,” Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said in a statement. “Some have already installed solar panels but most find it cost prohibitive. This announcement is therefore welcome and a step in the right direction. In the longer term, this should also help schools manage energy bills, which have been a source of enormous financial pressure in recent years.”

In addition to solar installations, the project will involve a collaboration between the appointed solar contractors and further education colleges to incorporate work placement opportunities, skill bootcamps, workshops and other career and learning opportunities. The project will also include £5 million ($6.5 million) in grant funding for community energy projects.

“By partnering with the public sector as we scale up the company, this will help us make an immediate impact as we work to roll out clean, homegrown energy projects, crowd in investment and create job opportunities across the country,” Great British Energy Chair Juergen Maier said in a statement. “We will work closely with communities to learn from the scheme so we can scale up energy projects across the country.”

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