State of Nature and Climate 2025 Centre for Nature and Climate BRIEFING PAPER JANUARY 2025 Objectives The State of Nature and Climate briefing paper is an inaugural effort by the World Economic Forum, Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK) and CDP to provide a global stock take on the health of planetary systems and the state of corporate action in addressing the nature and climate emergency. By placing the latest data on planetary health next to data on corporate action, the paper seeks to provide a benchmark for businesses to drive more transparency, accountability, comparability and urgency on their nature and climate action and performance. Planetary Health Check Key Findings The Planetary Health Check provides strong scientific evidence that humanity is putting the stability of the entire Earth system at risk, jeopardizing global economic development. Overall, the planetary boundaries are in the “zone of increasing risk”. Six of the nine boundaries are already breached, with trends indicating further worsening. The six breached boundaries are climate change , novel entities , biogeochemical flows , freshwater change , land system change and biodiversity . Ocean acidification is worsening and rapidly approaching the planetary boundary. Aerosol loading is improving and ozone depletion is stable. While the Planetary Health Check focuses on safe boundaries for a stable and resilient planet, the Earth Commission has shown that humans and all living species are often hit by unacceptable levels of harm Figure 1 Status of the nine planetary boundaries Source: Adapted from Planetary Health Check well before planetary boundaries are breached, suggesting that safe and just boundaries may result in even more stringent limits. In 2024, the world experienced deterioration and cascading risks to overall planetary health: –Annual global warming reached a record 1.54°C above the pre‑industrial average. Extreme weather events have become more prevalent with each incremental rise in global temperature.