Every month, our sustainability lead, Elizabeth Lorraine, analyses the biggest stories in the sustainability world. In February, she examined key shifts and policy shakeups that marked the turn of the year.
EL: Over the past month, we’ve seen major shifts in the sustainability landscape, from corporations rethinking their environmental commitments to governments enacting policies that could reshape the future of energy.
January 2025 was officially the warmest on record globally, continuing the trend of extreme temperatures.
Meanwhile, key economies, including the EU, Australia, South Africa, and India, are set to miss the UN’s deadline for submitting new climate targets for 2035, raising concerns about the pace of global climate action.
Much of January’s sustainability news was dominated by Donald Trump’s first policy moves since his return to the White House.
His appointments to the EPA include several industry aligned officials with histories of opposing environmental regulations.
He has since also placed nearly 200 EPA staff on leave.
The Senate also confirmed Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, as the new Energy Secretary, a move that aligns with the administration’s focus on expanding fossil fuel production and rolling back clean energy initiatives.
Trump’s broader environmental rollback continued with the removal of climate data from federal websites, an executive order halting offshore wind development, and the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.
His decision has already sparked scepticism from other nations, with some questioning the fairness of global emissions targets, and even considering their own departures.
These developments highlight the increasingly complex relationship between U.S. domestic policy and international climate diplomacy.
Beyond U.S. politics, this month also saw other key sustainability developments. The UK’s Labour government unveiled a new plan to accelerate the development of nuclear energy, including small modular reactors (SMRs).
The Science Based Targets initiative (SDTi) reportedly lost support from the Bezo Earth Fund, one of its biggest financial backers.
Microsoft made a major climate commitment by securing a 25-year agreement with Chestnut Carbon for more than 7 million tons of carbon removal credits.
Meanwhile, Equinor announced it would halve its renewable energy investments in favour of oil and gas, a decision with serious implications for the global energy transition.
Google has also moved to drop diversity hiring targets and review its DEI programs in response to Trump’s executive orders.
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