By highlighting the social, political and technological progress already made, this open access book presents an optimistic outlook for a transition to a climate-neutral world and successful adaptation to climate change.

With a focus on economics and policy, it covers a wide range of cases where climate action is heading in the right direction. Short digestible chapters highlight, among other things, growing awareness among the general population and the willingness to act, and present technologies and policy measures that have already led to emission reductions.

Here you can access and download all the figures and tables from the book.

Fig 1

Global mean temperature trends from 1850 to 2024. Temperatures have increased over time and the increase has been faster than in previous years in 2023 and 2024.

Fig 2

Fig 4

Fig 6

A comparison of the impact of global temperature increases of 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C on various environmental and social factors, such as biodiversity loss, food security, extreme heat and sea level rise. It shows that climate impacts become substantially more severe the higher the temperature increase.

Fig 3

Greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2100 under different scenarios. With currently implemented policies, emissions are projected to remain roughly constant at their current level. Limiting global warming to 2°C requires cutting emissions by about 60% by 2050. Achieving the 1.5°C makes even sharper emission reductions necessary.

Climate change attitudes across 16 countries, categorized into segments: Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, Dismissive, and No segment. Mexico shows the highest awareness of climate change risks with 64% of respondents being alarmed and 24% concerned. In Indonesia, which shows the least concern about climate change, 27% of respondents are alarmed and 26% concerned.

Climate protests have taken place in almost all European countries, the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, India, Pakistan as well as several countries in South America and Africa.

Fig 5

Number of articles per source from 2005 to 2025, categorized by region: Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, Central/South America, and Wire Services. A significant peak occurs around 2010. From 2013 on there is an upward trend with substantial fluctuations.

Fig 7

For most world region, there is only low evidence of transformational adaptation policies. Notable exception of medium evidence include policies related to oceans in Eurooe and North America and policies related to cities, terrestrial and water in South and Central America.

Fig 8a

The number of institutions committed to fossil fuel divestment has risen from less than 100 in 2012 to about 1500 in 2021. The assets managed by institutions committed to fossil fuel divestment has increased from close to zero in 2012 to almost USD 40 trillion in 2022.

Fig 9a

The share of respondents who agree that the transition to a climate-neutral economy must also address inequalities ranges from 39% in South Korea to 68% in the EU. The share of respondents who agree that lower-income countries affected by climate change should be compensated ranges from 58% in the UK to 76% in South Korea.

Fig 10

In recent years the global population has grown less quickly. The median scenario projects a peak global population at slightly above 10 billion people in the 2080s. Low fertility scenarios project global population to peak in the 2050s at slightly below 9 billion people.

Fig 1 - For most world region, there is only low evidence of transformational adaptation policies. Notable exception of medium evidence include policies related to oceans in Eurooe and North America and policies related to cities, terrestrial and wat

Fig 1 - For most world region, there is only low evidence of transformational adaptation policies. Notable exception of medium evidence include policies related to oceans in Eurooe and North America and policies related to cities, terrestrial and water in South and Central America.

Most G20 members have a net-zero target for 2050.For Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Japan the Russian Federatation, the UK and South Korea, these targets are enshrined in laws. Across countries, there is substantial variation in terms o

Most G20 members have a net-zero target for 2050.For Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Japan the Russian Federatation, the UK and South Korea, these targets are enshrined in laws. Across countries, there is substantial variation in terms of coverage of greenhouse gases, information on how carbon removal is accounted for as well as the publication of plans, the review process and annual reporting.

Clean energy accounts for more than 16 million jobs globally. Solar PV dominates with more than 7 million worldwide, followed by liquid biofuels and hydropower, which account for 2.8 million and 2.3 million, respectively. In terms of world regions,

Clean energy accounts for more than 16 million jobs globally. Solar PV dominates with more than 7 million worldwide, followed by liquid biofuels and hydropower, which account for 2.8 million and 2.3 million, respectively. In terms of world regions, China accounts for almost 7.4 million clean enregy jobs, the EU27 for 1.8 million and Brazil for close to 1.6 million. The US and India each have a bit more than 1 million.

The social, political and technological of climate policies exert feedback on each other.

The social, political and technological of climate policies exert feedback on each other.

The number of high-value patented inventions for adaptation has increased by 6.7% per year, from about 400 in 1995 to about 1500 in 2015. The largest increase took place for coastal and river protection patents. The US, Japan and Germany are the larg

The number of high-value patented inventions for adaptation has increased by 6.7% per year, from about 400 in 1995 to about 1500 in 2015. The largest increase took place for coastal and river protection patents. The US, Japan and Germany are the largest source of patents, accounting for 24%, 16% and 11% of the total, respectively

Conventional approaches for carbon dioxide removal have a high technological readiness with a storage timescale of decades to centuries. Novel carbon dioxide removal approaches have longer timescales (some of them have more then ten millenia) but low

Conventional approaches for carbon dioxide removal have a high technological readiness with a storage timescale of decades to centuries. Novel carbon dioxide removal approaches have longer timescales (some of them have more then ten millenia) but lower technological readiness.

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  • Temperatures have increased over time and the increase has been faster than in previous years in 2023 and 2024.

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X-LL91q4T4EXDtSTfab1rhc_cgTurZJ0

  • A comparison of the impact of global temperature increases of 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C on various environmental and social factors, such as biodiversity loss, food security, extreme heat and sea level rise. It shows that climate impacts become substantially more severe the higher the temperature increase.

    Download

  • With currently implemented policies, emissions are projected to remain roughly constant at their current level. Limiting global warming to 2°C requires cutting emissions by about 60% by 2050. Achieving the 1.5°C makes even sharper emission reductions necessary.

    Download