Climate positives
Some positive views on progress in combatting climate change will be considered in this post. They concern what has been achieved so far; public support for climate action; our understanding of climate change; new technology; global action; and individual rewards.
Achievements
In a 2014 report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) set out four scenarios for future warming based on different levels of
emissions. The recent removal of the worst case, highest emissions scenario from
the group of four has attracted considerable media comment. This scenario,
known as RPC8.5 assumed continuing emissions with increased use of fossil fuels,
resulting in a temperature rise of 4.5°C by 2100. (The notation refers to a
level of radiative forcing of 8.5 watts per square metre). An article in The
Conversation (2026) notes that climate change predictions must be revised
in the light of new information and that RPC8.5 was removed because “climate
action is starting to work”. Positive news rarely comes alone, and the action
referred to is still too little, and the best-case scenario of the IPCC 2014 group
is probably now out of reach. The abandonment of RPC8.5 has also been presented
in some quarters as evidence of incompetence in climate modelling, rather than
as an acknowledgment of progress.
Public support
A 2024 article in Our World in Data was entitled “More
people care about climate change than you think”. It cited a study published in
Science Advances which had questioned 59,000 people across 63 countries
about their attitudes to climate change. They were asked whether action was
necessary to avoid a global catastrophe; whether humans were causing climate
change; whether it was a serious threat to humanity and whether there was a
global emergency. Even in the country with the lowest score, a majority thought
that “climate change is a serious threat, and humans are the cause.” The
average global score for those supporting climate policies was 72% (OWD, 2024).
The original study by Vlasceanu et al., (2024) set out to provide a rigorous
comparison of “competing approaches to climate change mitigation” in a large-scale
experiment.
A recent graphic from Visual Capitalist in partnership with Lloyd’s
Register Foundation shows “the gap between personal climate concern and
perceived concern among most others” in 140 countries. For example, while 66%
of people surveyed in Portugal perceived climate change as a serious threat, only
24% believed that most others shared their view, giving a “perceptual gap” of 42%.
In the United States the three corresponding figures were 51%, 10%, and 41%. In
only a handful of countries (which included China) was the reverse perception noted
(Visual Capitalist, 2026).
Understanding climate change
A short paper published in 2025 provides a review of past
progress in climate modelling, and a discussion of future developments (Bordini
at al., 2025). The authors refer to the award of the 2021 Nobel prize in
physics to three researchers, to one working on the behaviour of complex system
in general, and to the other two “for the physical modelling of Earth’s
climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming". Climate
modelling is of great importance at present and is likely to remain so for the
foreseeable future. The authors stress the need to continue developing modelling
techniques to allow more effective control of the world’s climate.
The knowledge we have acquired about our planet and its
climate, the technologies required to control the climate, and the methods of
achieving global action may be of great use in the future in ways we cannot at
present foresee. The Met Office, the UK’s national meteorological service, has
published an article on The future of climate modelling (Met, undated),
in which it proposes three key ways to improve climate modelling. They are increasing
the spatial resolution of models; increasing the realism of the climate system
within models; and increasing the number of individual model runs.
New Technology
New methods of combatting climate change are constantly
being developed. Ten examples of emerging technologies for planetary health are
described by the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2025a).
They are: Precision fermentation (which combines synthetic
biology, genetic engineering, and bioprocess optimization to create
next-generation food and industrial products); Green ammonia production (e.g.
using renewable energy to make nearly carbon-free fertilizers); Automated food
waste upcycling (e.g. using anaerobic digesters to convert food waste into
biogas and organic fertilizer); Methane capture and utilization (e.g.
collecting methane emission from sources like coal mines, landfills, and
agriculture, and converting it into energy); Green concrete which incorporates
recycled industrial waste such as fly ash, slag from steel production, or other
by-products, reducing the demand for new cement and lowering carbon emissions; Next-gen
bi-directional charging which allows EVs to function as mobile energy storage
units, e.g. suppling power to homes during peak demand or in the event of
blackouts; Timely and specific Earth observation, ranging from “satellite-based
whole-Earth observations to micro-local, tree-by-tree health evaluations and
periodic changes in individual city demographics”; Modular geothermal systems
using prefabricated, standardized components to provide heating, cooling, and
power generation; Regenerative desalination for the Middle East and North
Africa using renewable energy and reducing waste; and Soil health technology
convergence integrating technologies such as drone-based imaging, AI soil
intelligence and biotechnological innovations.
Global action
A landmark resolution adopted in May of this year by the UN General
Assembly represents “a powerful affirmation” of international law, climate
justice and science, according to UN chief António Guterres (UN News, 2026). It
calls on all member states to “take all possible steps to avoid causing
significant damage to the climate and environment” and “ensure that climate
policies safeguard the rights to life, health, and an adequate standard of
living.” The UN Secretary-General noted that “the goal of keeping global
temperature rises to no more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is
still within reach.”
The resolution could be seen as part of a more general movement
towards global responsibility for climate and the environment. One example is
the movement for environmental personhood, the granting of legal rights to natural
features like rivers and mountains. The concept is explored in an article from
the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2025b). Several countries have recognized the
legal status of elements of the environment, mostly, but not exclusively,
rivers. This allows an individual to take legal action on behalf of nature,
such as taking the polluter of a protected river to court because the river has
the right to be pollution free. This is not the same as acting on behalf of
people who might be affected by the river’s pollution. Discussions of environmental
personhood can be found in The Conversation (2021 and 2024).
Individual rewards
The negative emotions associated with climate change have
been widely recognised: anxiety, grief, fear, depression etc. However, there is
a positive perspective: Schneider, Zaval, and Markowitz (2021) reviewed the
expanding body of empirical research on positive emotions and climate change, both
as antecedents and as consequences of engagement with climate change. Work in
this area has shown that people engaged in “productive climate change actions …
may experience more positive emotion(s) which in turn may promote further
engagement”. The authors reviewed research in this area, putting findings on positive
emotions under the headings of antecedents and consequences. Positive emotions
as antecedents included optimism, gratitude, hopefulness and anticipated pride,
also humour. Positive consequences of climate change engagement included greater
personal well-being, life satisfaction, a more positive self-image, and a sense
of ‘warm glow’. The paper notes however
that work on larger-scale and longer-term behaviour (e.g. investment decisions
in green energy) is “sorely missing from the literature.”
References
Bordini, S., et al., 2025, The futures of climate modelling,
npj climate and atmospheric science, online,
accessed 23 June 2026
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-025-00955-8.pdf
Met, undated, The future of climate modelling, Met Office, online,
accessed 23 June 2026
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/approach/the-future-of-climate-modelling
OWD, 2024, More people care about climate change than you
think, Our World in Data, online, accessed 23 June 2026
https://ourworldindata.org/climate-change-support
Schneider, C., Zaval, L., and Markowitz, E., 2021, Positive
emotions and climate change, ScienceDirect, online, accessed 23 June 2026
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352154621000942
The Conversation, 2021, Rights for nature: How granting a
river ‘personhood’ could help protect it, online, accessed 23 June 2026
The Conversation, 2024, Granting legal ‘personhood’ to
nature is a growing movement – can it stem biodiversity loss? online, accessed
23 June 2026
The Conversation, 2026, Scientists have scrapped the worst‑case
climate scenario – because
action is making a difference, online, accessed 23 June 2026
UN News, 2026, General Assembly backs historic World Court
climate crisis ruling, online, accessed 23 June 2026
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/05/1167561
Visual Capitalist, 2026, Mapped: People Are Closer on
Climate Than They Think, online, accessed 24 June 2026
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/mapped-people-are-closer-on-climate-than-they-think/
Vlasceanu, M., et al., 2024, Addressing climate change with
behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries, Science
Advances, online, accessed 23 June 2026
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj5778
WEF, 2025a, 10 Emerging Technology Solutions for
Planetary Health, World Economic Forum, online, accessed 23 June 2026
https://www.weforum.org/publications/10-emerging-technology-solutions-for-planetary-health/
WEF, 2025b, Environmental personhood: what is it and why
should nature be given legal status? online, accessed 23 June 2026
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