Daniel Ospina, Paula Mirazo, Richard P. Allan, Smriti Basnett, Ana Bastos, Nishan Bhattarai, Wendy Broadgate, Derik Broekhoff, Mercedes Bustamante, Deliang Chen, Yeonju Choi, Peter Cox, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Kristie L. Ebi, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas L. Frölicher, Sabine Fuss, Helge Goessling, Nicolas Gruber, Qingyou He, Sophie Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Magalhães Hirota, Øivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Izquierdo-Tort Santiago, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiş, Maximilian Kotz, Nilushi Kumarasinghe, William F. Lamb, Lee Shih‐Yu, Junguo Liu, Cara Nichole Maesano, Maria A. Martin, Guilherme G. Mazzochini, Christopher J. Merchant, Akira Mori, Jennifer Morris, Åsa Persson, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Benedict Probst, Justine Ramage, Estelle Razanatsoa, Aaron Redman, Johan Rockström, Regina R. Rodrigues, Sophie Ruehr, Sadie Ryan, Roberto Sanchez-Rodriguez, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Peter Schlösser, William A. Scott, Jan C. Semenza, Hansjörg Seybold, Drew Shindell, Giles B. Sioen, Kathryn E. Smith, Youba Sokona, Annika Stechemesser, Thomas F. Stocker, Sophie H.L. Su, Djiby Thiam, Gregory Trencher, Anna‐Maria Virkkala, Lila Warszawski, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu
Abstract Non-Technical Summary This review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023–2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation. Technical Summary Interdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1) the record-warmth of 2023/2024 and the elevated Earth energy imbalance; (2) acceleration of ocean warming and intensifying marine heatwaves; (3) northern land carbon sinks under strain; (4) reinforcing feedback between biodiversity loss and climate change; (5) accelerated depletion of groundwater; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) global income losses and labour productivity declines; (8) strategic scaling of CDR; (9) integrity challenges in carbon credit markets and emerging responses; and (10) effective policy mixes for emissions reductions. The insights have been written to be accessible to researchers from different fields, serving as entry-points to specific topics, as well as providing an overview of the evolving landscape of climate change research. In the final section, the insights are used to develop overarching policy-relevant messages. This paper provides the basis for a science-policy report that was shared with all Party delegations ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Social Media Summary Highlights of climate change research in 2024–2025: 10insightsclimate.science