From South Korea to the UK, discover how the major players on the global stage stack up in their environmental actions and inactions in 2025
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If 2025 has revealed anything, it’s that climate action isn’t a straight line. The EU is debating a 90 per cent emissions cut by 2040 while simultaneously dismantling some of its stringent climate pledges. Elsewhere, China’s emissions have dipped but its new pledge to reduce CO2 leaves much to be desired. In the UK, the nation released its most detailed climate adaptation review to date, only to find out not one of its sectors is adequately prepared for rising climate risks.
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In short, these examples paint of picture of the state of the planet’s environmental ambitions and strategies. Clearly, it’s a mixed bag of positive actions and, elsewhere, failing climate promises.
But how do nations stack up against each other – and what exactly are individual countries doing to help create a more sustainable future? Here we examine 11 of the world’s biggest players to see what climate action they’ve taken, or failed to act upon, in 2025 in Geographical‘s environmental ‘balance sheet’ of the year…
UK
This year, the UK published its first-ever adaptation evaluation under the Climate Change Committee (CCC), in which a formal assessment was conducted on how prepared the nation is for climate risks such as heatwaves and infrastructure stress. The UK government responded to that report back in October, pledging to address many of the CCC’s recommendations. These include resilience planning for hospitals and care homes, infrastructure developments and the creation of energy networks.
However, the CCC’s report also highlights major current shortcomings in the UK’s adaptation strategies. According to the report, not a single one of the 46 ‘required outcomes’ for a well-adapted UK is being delivered at a ‘good level’. Critical sectors such as water resources and infrastructure remain vulnerable, and health services came under the spotlight for being particularly underprepared for future climate projections.
On the energy front, some critics argue the UK’s ‘Clean Energy 2030 Strategy’ – a plan to provide 95 per cent of energy through clean sources by 2030 – is overestimating how much wind and solar alone can decarbonise the electricity system. In practice, this raises concerns whether the nation’s net-zero transition will deliver on the emissions reductions required. Overall, it’s clear to see that the UK is recognising climate change as a present reality. However, on-the-ground delivery to implement policy frameworks and ambitions into tangible actions remains slow.
EU
According to a 2025 global assessment, climate policy in many countries in the EU strengthened this year.
The bloc continues to have some of the most ambitious climate targets in the world: with 2030, 2040 and 2050 milestones remaining firmly in play. It has committed to reducing emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels; 90 per cent by 2040 and becoming ‘climate neutral’ by 2050.
Concerns have been raised, though, that these targets may be reached through offsets or carbon-removal technologies rather than actual on-the-ground reductions.
In addition, recent moves within the bloc have begun to shift away from climate-friendly policies: draft proposals made this month could weaken environmental law by scaling back agricultural reporting requirements (such as waste, water and energy use), as well as rumours that strict environmental rules for industrial sites will be dropped.
Additionally, earlier in the year, directives requiring companies to disclose ESG data changed so that only a very small number of large firms (those which have more than 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover) now need to provide such data. This revision means many smaller companies are now exempt from disclosing information, undermining the EU’s ability to track environmental performance.
Ultimately, there are two sides to the EU’s story: ambition on one end, and deregulation pressure on another. Knowing which way the pendulum will swing remains a hotly-debated and contentious topic.
China
Back in September, China committed to an economy-wide cut in greenhouse gas emissions. The government announced it would reduce its total emissions to seven to ten per cent below peak levels by 2035, marking the first time China has set an ‘absolute reduction target’ (in other words, not just reducing carbon intensity per GDP). Such a pledge covers all greenhouse gases – not just CO2 – which makes it more comprehensive than the nation’s earlier, narrower goals.
Alongside this, China also pledged to commit to measures such as raising the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix, expanding forest stock and making electric vehicles the mainstream for new car sales.
Although the 2035 target is historic for China, many analysts have dubbed it far too modest, with the promised seven to ten per cent reduction a small peak, especially since China’s emissions have been rising for decades.
Other critics have warned that the new plan might rely heavily on carbon offsetting or carbon removal technologies rather than on-the-ground emissions cuts, risking the commitment turning into merely ‘greenwashing’.
India
As one of the world’s biggest energy users and CO2 emitters, India is making clear inroads into positive climate action. In 2025, the nation’s Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) estimated India’s climate policies will reduce nearly four billion tonnes of CO2 between 2020 and 2030 – signalling a long-term downward trend in their emissions curve.
The nation has already met its 2030 pledge under the Paris Agreement, achieving more than 50 per cent non-fossil installed electricity capacity well-ahead of target. In particular, installed solar capacity has grown dramatically: as of mid-2025, India’s solar capacity is significantly higher than a decade ago.
In 2025, notable judicial and regulatory actions were taken by the nation to protect the planet: courts intervened to block deforestation, and a directive was created to investigate alleged forest and wildlife violations in ecologically sensitive areas.
Despite such actions, India still faces major shortfalls in its climate policies. The nation still relies heavily on coal – even after considering renewable energy inroads, coal-based generation still dominates total electricity output. The lack of a clear coal phase-out plan, or detailed roadmap for retiring coal power plants, makes India’s long-term decarbonisation path unclear.
As well as this, rapid energy demand growth – driven by population growth and urbanisation – threatens to outpace renewable deployment, potentially securing India into a fossil-fuel heavy future.
Brazil
One of Brazil’s major environmental issues is deforestation, particularly pertinent as it is home to the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon. Official data for 2025 begins to paint a positive story: deforestation in the Amazon fell by around 11 per cent compared with 2024, the lowest annual tally since 2014.
Independent monitoring by another NGO, Imazon, confirms a similar decline, suggesting the recent policy efforts Brazil has put in place to curb deforestation have had tangible effects.
However, Brazil has also experienced significant regressions in its climate policy in 2025. In May, the Congress approved a bill which loosens environmental licensing requirements – a move labelled by critics as the ‘Devastation Bill‘. Under these changes, many mining, infrastructure and agricultural projects could proceed without prior environmental impact assessments or adequate oversight.
Human rights and environmental organisations have warned the new bill could accelerate deforestation, fossil fuel and mineral extraction and damage Indigenous lands and protected areas alike.
In addition, Pará, one of Brazil’s largest Amazonian cattle producers, has moved to delay its mandatory cattle traceability programme – a programme set to prevent illegal ranching on deforested land – until 2030. The previous deadline of 2026 and 2027 were also both postponed by several years.
Environmental groups warn that the delay may allow hundreds of millions of cattle to pass through supply chains with no checks on whether the land used was legally cleared or not.
Canada
This year brought positive changes to Canada’s environment. In mid-2025, Canada announced or expanded several large boreal forest conservation areas as part of its goal to conserve 30 per cent of land by 2030. As one of the world’s biggest carbon stores, boreal forests are vital in protecting the planet against climate change and slowing biodiversity loss.
The nation also maintained its national carbon price in 2025 – hitting C$80/tonne. Essentially, this is the price companies must pay if they burn gasoline, natural gas, diesel, coal or other carbon-heavy fuels. While carbon pricing doesn’t force individuals to behave in a certain way, it makes pollution more expensive, and as such, clean alternatives more competitive.
However, it isn’t all good news. In 2025, Canada saw a plethora of federal decisions that compiled to form a significant rollback in environmental policies. For example, the nation greenlit a new oil-sands pipeline, doubling down on one of the world’s highest-emissions forms of oil. Such a decision has shocked analysts, considering oil-sands production has some of the highest upstream emissions in the world.
As well as this, 2025 brought in the scrapping of Canada’s long-promised emissions cap for oil and gas companies. The gap was set to force emissions reductions in Canada’s largest and most polluting sector, put the country on track toward 2030 Paris goals and align the nation with other developed economies tightening their fossil fuel rules.
United States
This year, according to the Oxford Climate Policy Hub’s annual survey, the US’s climate regulations have suffered a significant weakening. As such, the US is cited as a ‘country under contestation’ – a group where regulation is fragmenting rather than strengthening.
The year saw the nation’s federal government watering down numerous regulations, from those that would have delayed fossil fuel infrastructure building to rules requiring stricter tailpipe emissions standards, accelerating electric vehicle sales targets and lowering pollution from heavy-duty trucks. Such policies would have significantly helped emissions in the US, considering transport is the largest source of emissions in the nation.
In addition, 2025 also saw the rollback of emission limits for gas-fired power plants, as well as the relaxation of pollution-control requirements. Approvals were also made for new offshore drilling blocks in New Mexico, oil projects in Alaska and expansion of liquid natural gas exports.
Despite weakening federal policy in the wake of Trump’s administration, the US is experiencing its largest-ever clean energy boom. In both 2024 and 2025, the World Resources Institute reported that renewables ‘dominated new power-generation capacity’ in the US, and that new clean-energy manufacturing facilities – solar, battery, storage and EV supply chain – are popping up around the nation.
Importantly, though, investment doesn’t automatically equal emissions cuts – deployment, grid readiness, energy demand and policy stability all matter if investment is to be transformed into tangible action.
Russia
As one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, Russia’s actions in 2025 are largely characterised by little progress and continued policy weakness. According to Oxford Climate Policy Monitor, the nation’s policy ambition ‘remains insufficient to meet long-term climate goals’.
Fossil fuel expansion continues in Russia, including new Arctic projects. 2025 saw Russia expand its oil and gas extraction, increase Arctic liquid natural gas output, approve new fossil-fuel infrastructure projects and strengthen ties with China, India and the Middle East for energy export routes.
Russia’s economy continues to be highly reliant on fossil fuels – accounting for around 40 per cent of federal revenue – and 2025 reinforced such a dependency.
Despite such a lax approach to climate policy, Russia is experiencing very real risks and impacts to its environment as a result of climate change. Analysts have noted that Russia’s Arctic and boreal territories are warming faster than the global average. Such warming drives permafrost melt, which threatens infrastructure, releases additional greenhouse gases such as methane.
South Korea
This year, South Korea has experienced significant momentum in its climate policy. In October, the nation established the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment – signalling that the government wants to centralise and strengthen climate and energy strategy. Such a structural change gives the country a better shot at coordinated policy, something that many critics long cited as missing.
October also brought about an announcement from the government that it will soon set a formal greenhouse gas emissions target for 2035. This is intended as part of South Korea’s long-term decarbonisation trajectory toward its goal to becoming fully carbon neutral by 2050.
However, even with the planned 2035 update, both South Korea’s policies and its NDCs remain ‘highly insufficient’ according to Climate Action Tracker. It continues to host 73 GW of fossil fuel driven power plants, none of which are fitted with carbon capture technologies. Independent analyses warn that to meet the nation’s net-zero ambitions, South Korea faces a huge investment burden – around $2.7 trillion by 2050.
Australia
In 2025, Australia remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its goals are to cut emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2035. A new intermediate target was created this year: a cut of 62 to 70 per cent below 2005 levels by 2035.
According to the Clean Energy Council’s 2025 report, 2024–2025 saw a ‘soaring’ wave of clean energy investment in Australia, especially rooftop solar – helping to displace coal in electricity generation. Such investment has brought about positive changes for emissions levels: they fell significantly in 2025, the largest drop this decade outside COVID-related anomalies.
Despite Australia’s promising efforts, independent analysis shows that their targets may be falling short of the Paris Agreement. Even if Australia meets its stated 2035 target, it may not be enough to keep global warming below 1.5 °C. In fact, estimates suggest for Australia’s 2035 target to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement, the cut needs to be at least around 81 per cent — significantly deeper than 62–70 per cent.
South Africa
South Africa has signalled its long-term approach to combating rising emissions this year, through preparing a draft updated NDC (nationally determined contribution) ahead of upcoming climate talks. Goals include a just transition to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, plans for 36 GW of renewable energy by 2035 and structural economic transformation. As well as this, South Africa aims to quadruple its access to International climate finance to US$8billion annually by 2030.
Still, the independent Climate Action Tracker rates South Africa’s current policies and actions as ‘insufficient’. Under current trajectories, that means South Africa will miss what’s required to limit warming to 1.5°C, as outlined under the Paris Agreement. In addition, critics label the draft NDC as ‘far too weak’, especially given South Africa’s high emissions among developing economies.
