2025 was a geopolitically turbulent and a tough year for sustainability. While celebrating the 80th birthday of the UN and the 10 year anniversary of the Paris Agreement and SDGs, the global community was simultaneously dealing with funding cuts, policy rollbacks, and backlash to all things sustainability. There were some bright spots but it was a tough one.

2024 was marked by rising geopolitical tensions and a number of conflicts that have, rightly, taken much of the global community’s attention.  In addition, in 2024 a record number of people went to the polls. And while there were some bright spots, it was not an overly positive year for sustainability.

It was a year of ups and downs for sustainability! Here are the big moments and highlights from 2022.

2020 was slated to be the “Super Year for Biodiversity” but COVID flipped that expectation upside down. Now a variety of crucially important events are set to take place in 2021 that could shape the global nature agenda as we know it.