5 wins for the climate in 2024

Although 2024 — the warmest year on record — has been a fairly dark year when it comes to climate change, there have been several notable bright spots that may give the planet a glimmer of hope on the horizon. 

1. Coal use is plummeting in US and around the world

The growth in global coal demand considerably slowed this year, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. 

Demand is expected to grow by 1 percent to an all-time high of 8.77 billion tons this year. But as a basis of comparison, coal consumption surged by 7.7 percent in 2021, 4.7 percent in 2022 and 2.4 percent in 2023. 

The agency forecasted that international demand for the resource could plateau by 2027. Whether the break-even point comes that year depends on China, which currently consumes 30 percent more coal that the entire rest of the world put together, per the report. 

But one country in particular stood out for its 2024 efforts to cut the cord on coal: the United Kingdom. The U.K. officially shuttered its last coal-fired power plant on Oct. 1. 

“The UK spearheaded the coal-powered industrial revolution over 250 years ago and is now demonstrating the viability of a 21st-century clean power transformation," said Jennifer Layke, global director for energy at the World Resources Institute, at the time. "The UK’s coal power phaseout sets a strong example for others and marks a significant step in eliminating coal use entirely."

2. Initiatives to revitalize faltering rivers are making strides, with key support from tribes

The U.S. marked several major river restoration milestones in 2024. Among the most monumental of these was the completed elimination of California's massive Klamath dams in October. The removal of these barricades — the largest such infrastructural undertaking in U.S. history — paves the way for a Klamath River rehabilitation project.

That work will involve reviving about 2,200 acres of formerly submerged lands, while enabling fish populations to swim freely, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) office. 

Members of area tribal nations had for decades fought for the removal of the dams, which sat on the ancestral lands of the Yurok, Karuk and Klamath communities near the California-Oregon border.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of December, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued an executive order directing state agencies to take immediate actions to safeguard the Columbia River's dwindling salmon population. Inslee emphasized his state's commitment to collaborating on restoration initiatives with the area's Indigenous populations, including the Oregon and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs — collectively known as the “Six Sovereigns.”

3. Private investment in electric vehicles and renewables has surged nationwide

Private investments in the U.S. clean energy and transportation sectors maintained a record-setting growth rate in the third quarter of 2024 — raking in $71 billion and marking a 12 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to a recent report.

Clean investments accounted for 5 percent of all U.S. private investments in structures, equipment and durable consumer products, up from 4.5 percent at this time in 2023, per the report, published by the independent research provider Rhodium Group. 

Nonetheless, the authors expressed some concern that despite the surge in clean electricity investments — in part driven and encouraged by the Inflation Reduction Act — the country might not be able to achieve its 40 percent emissions reductions goals by 2030.

4. Grids have secured more support to build resilience

The U.S. made numerous strides in 2024 to make its electricity grids much more resilient. The Department of Energy has invested $473.6 million this fiscal year in grid resilience grants for states and tribal nations.

Among the highest recipients was California's Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, awarded a $39.2 million grant that brought its total such funds to $67.5 million, including grants received in 2022 and 2023. Also among the big benefactors was the Texas Division of Emergency Management, receiving a $27.2 million grant that brought its total such awards up to $60.6 million. 

California’s power lines have come under pressure from multiple seasons of devastating wildfires, while Texas’s isolated grid has been battered by extreme weather in recent years.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office in mid-December announced the conditional approval of a loan guarantee for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) of up to $15 billion. Those funds would serve to decarbonize the massive California utility's operations and boost the grid's reliability. 

PG&E has been undertaking major grid updates following a company reorganization in July 2020 — after its power lines sparked a deadly blaze in 2018.

5. US greenhouse gas emissions are falling — slightly

Greenhouse gasses released by the U.S., which is responsible for 13 percent of global emissions, could decrease by 0.6 percent in 2024, University of Exeter researchers projected in a recent report. China's emissions, which make up 32 percent of the global total, could incur a marginal 0.2 percent increase or possibly even fall, per the report. European Union greenhouse gas releases, which constitute 7 percent of the planet's total, are expected to drop by 3.8 percent in 2024.

These pieces of good news come with a caveat, however: Global emissions are still up, with releases from different types of fossil fuels all expected to increase.  

"While gradual emission reductions are occurring in some countries, increases continue in others," said co-author Glen Peters, of the CICERO Center for International Climate Research in Oslo, in a statement at the time of the report's release. “Progress in all countries needs to accelerate fast enough to put global emissions on a downward trajectory towards net zero.”