Global greenhouse-gas emissions hit a new high, reaching 37.4 billion metric tons in 2024. This year is also on track to be the warmest on record, with temperatures through September hitting 1.54 °C (2.77 °F) above preindustrial levels. Global climate talks fell flat, and disasters from wildfires to hurricanes are being made worse by climate change.
But among all that (very real) negative news, there was some good, too: We saw progress cutting back on the most polluting fossil fuels, cheaper and better technologies for combating climate change, and a continuous global effort to address the problem. As we near the end of 2024, let’s take a moment to look back on some of the bright spots.
We’re kicking coal to the curb
One of my favorite climate moments from this year happened in the UK. The country has historically relied heavily on coal as an electricity source—as of 1990, coal met about 65% of its electricity demand. But on September 30, 2024, the last coal plant in the nation shut down.
Renewables are stepping in to fill the gap. Wind farms in the UK are on track to produce more electricity this year than coal and gas plants together.
The moment was a symbolic one, and it also reflects the very real progress that’s happening around the world in inching away from this polluting fossil fuel. In the US, coal made up around 50% of the electricity supply four decades ago. In 2023, that share was roughly 16%.
We should see coal use plateau and potentially begin to fall by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency. Progress needs to happen faster, though, and it needs to happen in countries like China, where energy demand is increasing. There’s also growing concern about what increasing energy demand from data centers, including those used to power AI, will mean for efforts to shut off old coal plants.
Batteries just keep getting cheaper
Lithium-ion battery packs are cheaper than ever in 2024, with prices dropping 20% this year to $115 per kilowatt-hour, according to data from BloombergNEF. That’s the biggest drop since 2017.
Batteries are a central technology for addressing climate change. They power the electric vehicles we’re relying on to help clean up the transportation sector and play an increasingly important role for the grid, since they can store energy from inconsistently available renewables like wind and solar.
