Pillar 3 Cooperation improved in 2023 but would need to improve much more and much faster if the world is to meet global climate and natural capital goals. This pillar looks at the global cooperation on lowering emissions, preserving natural capital and preparing for the likely effects of climate change. Our measure shows modest improvement in 2023 (see Figure 8). Nearly all metrics are above their pre-pandemic averages (black line in Figure 9). Nonetheless, because global emissions continue to rise, this pillar would need increased and accelerated cooperation if the world is to reach stated climate and natural capital goals. In 2023, cooperation in this pillar grew as finance and trade flows enabled improvements in deployment and emissions intensity. Climate finance flows from both the public and private sectors reached new heights. Despite this growth, finance flows remain below the level required to make a meaningful impact. The capital committed to climate finance as of 2023 was between a tenth and a fifth of the projected annual needs for the world to reach net zero by 2030.39 The growth of finance flows also enabled expanded technology deployment and associated growth in trade. Trading in low-carbon technology products was 12% higher in 2023, one of the only categories of goods trade that saw growth. The acceleration of growth in the rollout of low-emissions technologies contributed to a decline in the emissions intensity of GDP (i.e. a reduction in emissions generated by unit Climate and natural capital Climate and natural capital trends FIGURE 8 2012-20 2020-22 2022-23 Partial extrapolation (some countries reporting 2023 numbers) ExtrapolationImprovement in: 7/8 2012-20 7/8 2020-22 6/8 2022-23-5 0 25 35 5 10 15 20 300.600.650.700.750.800.850.900.951.001.051.101.15 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022There were positive gains across the board on climate cooperation, headlined by accelerating ﬁnance Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) % Climate and natural capital index Finance: global climate mitigation Finance: global climate adaptation Global trade in low-carbon technology products* Global progress on emissions intensity*,** Terrestrial protected areas (million km2) Ocean Health Index** Global progress on emissions** Marine protected area (million km2)*Metrics were reflected given negative connotation. **Outcome metrics. Note: Due to missing data in some metrics, data from the closest years are used to calculate the trend. These metrics include terrestrial protected areas, climate finance mitigation and climate finance adaptation. Trade in low- carbon technology products mostly based in 2023 actuals, partial extrapolation for missing data Sources: International Monetary Fund (IMF), Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), Organizational Health Index (OHI), Protected Planet, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), McKinsey & Company. 16 The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 Second Edition