The Climate Wins of 2025 You Haven't Heard About

Tired of climate news that makes you want to hide under a blanket? Same here. But here's the thing—while headlines focus on disasters and setbacks, some pretty incredible victories are happening behind the scenes. This year brought wins that barely registered in mainstream media but could reshape how we fight climate change.

Courts Finally Get It

The biggest surprise? Courts worldwide started ruling in favor of the planet over profits. The UK Supreme Court delivered a knockout punch in February, ruling that oil and gas projects must consider the climate impact of actually burning the fuel—not just extracting it.

This sounds obvious, but it wasn't legally required before. Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group challenged an oil drilling plan in Surrey and won big. Now every future fossil fuel project in the UK has to account for the emissions it'll create.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii, a group of young activists forced the state transport department to commit to zero emissions by 2045 through a lawsuit that convinced judges the government was violating young people's constitutional rights.