The annual World Climate Report has been published by the World Meteorological Organisation, and there's plenty we can learn from it. As anyone who's been paying attention to climate change, or just the state of the world more generally in recent years will know, our planet is heating up at an alarming rate, and we are running out of time to save it. The latest report has evidence to back up that fact: the last 11 years have been the hottest on record, and 2025 was in the top three in global history. Grim, we know.

But it's not all doom and gloom, and there's also evidence to show that some efforts to reverse climate change are working. We've scoured the report to bring you every key takeaway, below.

What are the current state of affairs?

As we've established, we're at near-record warmth as of right now. The global temperature is at about +1.43°C above pre-industrial levels, which is alarmingly close to the 1.5°C threshold (the internationally agreed limit to global warming above pre-industrial levels, beyond which climate impacts become much more severe). Much of this ongoing warming can be attributed to an overall "energy imbalance", which results from more energy entering than leaving the planet. Burning fossil fuels, deforestation, agriculture, and urbanisation are the biggest drivers of this.

Greenhouse gases are also at higher levels than ever, meaning that we're collectively omitting CO₂, methane, and nitrous oxide at an unprecedented rate. The World Climate Report states that CO₂ levels are the highest in at least 2 million years. One key problem associated with this is that CO2 absorption lowers the ocean's pH, making it more acidic, and less habitable for marine ecosystems.

At the same time, oceans are overheating. It might sound obvious, but the hotter the Earth is, the warmer the ocean gets, because it actually absorbs 91 per cent of the planet's excess heat. The dangerous offshoot of this is that it results in marine heatwaves, stronger storms, and coral bleaching. We're also seeing glaciers melting at near-record rates, which has caused the Arctic sea to shrink, and sea levels to rise — they're 11cm higher than they were in 1993, and the rate of rise has accelerated significantly since 2012.

What do we need to do?

If reading this has your heart racing, there's still plenty we can do. The primary way to slow the planet warming is by reducing greenhouse gas emissions — also known as decarbonising.

In very simple terms, decarbonisation involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, while also improving efficiency, protecting carbon sinks (which are natural systems that absorb CO₂), and transforming transport, industry, and agriculture.

How are we already decarbonising?

We are moving in the right direction. According to the World Climate Report, 2024 saw global renewable electricity capacity additions grow by 22 per cent to reach a new all-time high. And, according to the International Energy Agency, 2025 is also predicted expected to be another record year for renewables (once reporting and auditing is done). At the time of reporting, capacity additions were predicted to reach over 750 GW – up from the 685 GW from the previous year.

Renewable energy, cleaner transport systems, and reduced coal use are already helping to decarbonise. Proving there's hope for the future, the UK is one of the fastest-decarbonising major economies, with emissions recently dropping by 2.4 per cent, and coal use at a 400-year low.

Renewable energy has seen massive growth in recent years, largely thanks to solar and wind which are now the fastest-growing energy sources globally. There are record installations across the globe every year. These directly replace fossil fuel energy.

Electric vehicles are also in high demand, reducing our collective reliance on oil, and therefore lowering fuel emissions. In the EU, petrol cars will be phased out from 2035, with the guideline to have 90 per cent of cars be EVs. In Australia, EVs make up roughly 12 per cent of new cars sold and this is only climbing.

In some cities, smart energy systems coupled with better and more efficient insulation means less energy is needed for heating and cooling. There's also plenty of natural solutions currently in place, including reforestation and tree-planting projects, plus protection of existing wetlands, all designed to strengthen existing carbon sinks. Australia's work on growing heat-tolerant coral to preserve the Great Barrier Reef is a key example.