"The specific barrier is capital," says Lisa George, global head of the Macquarie Group Foundation. "Without access to capital, it's very hard to get social mobility and educational mobility in life."
The overarching message of The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review was that failing to invest in mitigating climate change would exact an alarmingly high price, estimated between 5% and 20% of global GDP per year.
Metafuels' aerobrew technology converts renewable methanol into drop-in jet fuel, delivering up to 90% lower lifecycle emissions than conventional kerosene, with no modifications needed for existing aircraft.
South Korea has launched a nationwide energy-saving campaign, enforcing an odd-even vehicle restriction system for public-sector cars based on licence plate numbers. Authorities urge voluntary compliance from private vehicle owners.
At a young age, I learned quickly how oil wealth and power could burn the land while people struggled. I saw heat rise off the streets, the Nile strained, and the air thickened with injustice. In my teenage years, through Aotearoa, being on the edge of the Pacific, I felt the ocean breathing heavy, swallowing the shores of islands that have done the least to cause this harm.
The market was the backbone of Europe's climate policy, running at close to a trillion euros in annual trading volume, and it was almost entirely closed to anyone who wasn't an industrial company or an institutional fund. Lautier founded Homaio in 2023 to change that.
Multinational firms are under rising pressure-from investors, regulators, and employees-to demonstrate positive societal impact in the places where they do business. With ESG-focused institutional investments projected to reach nearly $34 trillion this year and roughly 90% of large U.S. companies now disclosing ESG reports, these pressures are now a central part of corporate strategy.
When Obvious Ventures launched 12 years ago with a focus on "world positive" companies, the idea was a contrarian bet: that startups tackling climate, health, and economic resilience could deliver big returns, not just feel-good impact. Founded by Twitter cofounder Ev Williams and others, the firm backed companies like Beyond Meat, the AI drug discovery company Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and Diamond Foundry, which makes sustainable lab-grown diamonds.
But to environmental advocates, the announcement sounded less like relief and more like a bill for working people, one that would result in higher fuel costs, increased pollution, and a slower path to clean energy. Critics warn that the decision represents a blow to the energy transition and a significant setback in the fight against climate change overall.
In California and across the nation from Hawaii to Maine, a growing number of state and local governments are fighting in court to hold oil giants like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP accountable for their well-documented efforts to deceive the public about climate change and the "catastrophic events" and "more violent weather" their own scientists accurately predicted would result if the use of their fossil fuel products was not curbed.
Then she read an article in this newspaper, just over eight years ago, and discovered that fossil fuel companies had ploughed more than $180bn (130bn) into plastic plants in the US since 2010. It was a kick in the teeth, says Gardiner. You're telling me that while I am beating myself up because I forgot to bring my water bottle, all these huge oil companies are pouring billions She looks appalled. It was just such a shock.
Last year, the nonprofit Climate Central launched an online database to track the most costly weather- and climate-related disasters across the country. The effort was led by the same lead scientist who tracked those costs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-until the Trump administration axed the project in May. In 2025, the US experienced 23 such disasters with costs totaling at least $1 billion, for a total of $115 billion, Climate Central concluded.
