A major new assessment has concluded the world is stalling on progress to limit global warming, with none of the 45 indicators of climate action on track for 2030.

While most are heading in the right direction, the State of Climate Action 2025 report launched today warned that the pace and scale of progress are alarmingly inadequate – exposing communities, economies and ecosystems to unacceptable risks. From protecting forests to phasing out coal and ending public finance for fossil fuels, the world is failing to act fast enough to combat the climate crisis and secure a liveable future.

“All systems are flashing red,” said Clea Schumer, research associate at the World Resources Institute (WRI) and co-lead author of the report. “A decade of delay has dangerously narrowed the path to 1.5°C. Steady progress isn’t enough anymore – every year we fail to speed up, the gap widens and the climb gets steeper. There’s simply no time left for hesitation or half measures.”

Published under Systems Change Lab, the report is a joint effort of the Bezos Earth Fund, Climate Analytics, ClimateWorks Foundation, the Climate High-Level Champions, and WRI.

The analysis offers a guide for countries to follow through on their new national climate commitments, the Global Stocktake and announcements made at COP30.

“The report translates the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit into clear, actionable targets for 2030, 2035, and 2050, and tracks global progress toward them across the sectors responsible for most emissions – power, buildings, industry, transport, forests and land, and food and agriculture,” the report explained. “It also grades efforts to scale up carbon removal technologies and climate finance.”

Of the 45 indicators assessed:

• Six are “off track,” moving in the right direction but not quite fast enough
• Twenty-nine are “well off track,” moving in the right direction but far too slowly
• Five are headed in the wrong direction entirely, demanding an urgent course correction
• Five lack sufficient data to even assess progress

Since the 2023 edition of the State of Climate Action report, several key trends have changed the latest version added. Electric vehicles (EVs) are still growing rapidly and made up a record 22% of global passenger car sales in 2024, up from 4.4% in 2020, but growth has slowed in some major markets such as Europe and the United States. As a result, EVs’ share of global passenger car sales – previously the only indicator “on track” – has been downgraded to “off track.”

Private climate finance, on the other hand, rose so sharply that this year’s report upgraded progress from “well off track” to “off track.” These funds climbed from roughly $870 billion in 2022 to a record $1.3 trillion in 2023, with individuals, businesses and investors, particularly in China and Western Europe, driving much of the gains.

Alarmingly, progress on some of the world’s most consequential indicators has not moved across multiple consecutive reports. Public finance for fossil fuels has increased by an average of $75 billion per year since 2014, reaching more than $1.5 trillion in 2023. Deforestation, which had declined earlier in the decade, is once again rising, and coal as a share of electricity generation has fallen only slightly in recent years, as it has been unable to keep pace with record-high electricity demand.

“We’re not just falling behind — we’re effectively flunking the most critical subjects,” said Sophie Boehm, senior research associate at World Resources Institute and co-lead author of the report. “As this global report card shows, we have barely moved the needle on phasing out coal or halting deforestation, while public finance still props up fossil fuels. These actions aren’t optional; they’re the bare minimum needed to combat the climate crisis and protect humanity.”

Keeping the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal within reach demands tremendous acceleration in climate action across every sector, the report said. “Warming beyond 1.5°C, even temporarily, will only intensify already devastating impacts and increase the risk of irreversible damage.”

The report said to reverse the failing trend, by 2030, the world must:

• Phase out coal more than ten times faster – equivalent to retiring nearly 360 average-sized coal-fired power plants each year and halting all projects in the pipeline.
• Reduce deforestation nine times faster. Current levels are far too high – roughly equivalent to permanently losing nearly 22 football (soccer) fields of forest every minute in 2024.
• Expand rapid transit networks five times faster – equivalent to building at least 1,400 km (870 miles) of light rail, metro, and bus lanes annually.
• Reduce beef and lamb consumption in high-consuming countries five times faster – equivalent to reducing consumption by 2 or fewer servings per week in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand.
• Scale technological carbon removal more than ten times faster – equivalent to building nine of the largest direct air capture facilities currently under construction each month.
• Increase climate finance by nearly $1 trillion annually – equivalent to roughly two-thirds of public fossil fuel finance in 2023.

“Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the world is at a critical crossroads,” said Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO, World Resources Institute. “The choice before us is clear: we can either lock in the systems that are escalating climate catastrophes and failing people and the planet, or we can accelerate the transition toward a healthier, more sustainable future. This report offers a roadmap to change course. The challenge now is to act with the urgency and collaboration needed to bring it to scale.”

“Keeping warming to 1.5°C now hinges on one thing: speed,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. “The science is unequivocal — the world isn’t moving fast enough. Every year of delay makes the task harder, and only rapid, sustained cuts can keep 1.5°C within reach.”