The past twelve months have been a busy time within the sustainability sector and as we begin 2026, what better time than to review the major stories from the past year. Below we summarise the most read insights released by Zero Carbon Academy in 2025.

2025, year of the climate climbdown

The past year saw a shift in political attitudes towards net zero, and more broadly, the subject of sustainability. This was reflected in a trend towards enacting a ‘climate climbdown’, reversing policy or commitments which had been made to tackle climate change. The year kicked-off with the news that BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, had announced that it would leave the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM), this followed earlier news that all six of the largest US banks – JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs – had quit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a UN-backed climate group for the banking sector. Access the full article here: ESG exodus intensifies: BlackRock becomes the latest Wall Street name to leave a major climate group

This was followed by news in September that The NZBA (Net Zero Banking Alliance) had paused all activities ahead of a vote that would determine its future. Following a wave of high-profile exits, including Barclays and HSBC, the climate alliance announced plans for a vote on whether to transition to a framework initiative instead of its membership structure. End of the road for the Net Zero Banking Alliance? Depleted group pauses activities and announces vote on new framework

Although it wasn’t all bad news, as many businesses continued to push ahead with climate commitments- Almost two-thirds of businesses said that they were set to boost sustainability spending in 2025, and 9 in 10 CFOs said that they ‘would stay the course’ and invest more in sustainability.

Cleantech advances

2025 was a big year for the cleantech space, our research found that that global cleantech investment broke new ground, up by 15% year-on-year with this largely driven by contributions towards the energy sector.

There were numerous advancements in the space, with notable partnerships formed such as  PepsiCo & Soil Capital’s regenerative agriculture tie-up in the AgTech sector, and Microsoft’s 10-year deal with Arca Climate Technologies to  scale permanent carbon removal through mineralisation. Ground-breaking developments such as  Northwestern University’s DAC breakthrough, the plans for the new  Carbon-Loop Sustainable Biomanufacturing Hub (C-Loop), and  advances in green hydrogen also captured the spotlight. The winners of Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge, and the  Earthshot Prize were also revealed.

We also saw policy evolve to support cleantech, with the  UK Government announcing ‘a new era for nuclear’ and the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to decarbonise the grid. Further, The  US & UK announced a major new partnership designed to turbocharge the build-out of new nuclear power stations in September, during President Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom. Further, new coalitions formed to help nascent cleantech sectors, such as the  Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Coalition (mCDR Coalition), and  Geothermal UK.

Lastly, our 2025 edition of the ZCA cleantech awards showcased the transformative businesses and visionaries reshaping our sustainable future across a broad range of sectors. From renewable energy and battery storage, to waste-management and AI-enabled decarbonisation. See the full list of winners here: Cleantech Awards

Data centre and AI use fuels fears for the environment

Artificial intelligence has seen considerable advancement and uptake over the past 12 months, yet this has led to mounting concerns over the technology’s environmental impact. In April  the IEA reported that growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will lead to the global electricity demand from data centres more than doubling in the next 5 years, reaching 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030. Notably this figure is equivalent to Japan’s current annual electricity usage and represents an almost 128% increase from the 415 TWh of power used by data centres in 2024. In addition, research from Seagate, which explored the barriers faced in developing sustainable data storage facilities, revealed that billions of dollars in investment will be required to meet funding requirements  for renewable energy, energy-efficient IT systems, infrastructure upgrades and sustainability tracking tools.

Additional pressures are being placed on supply chains and demand for materials, with  Bloomberg NEF forecasting a shortfall in copper of 6 million tonnes by 2035, as a result of the growing demand for data centres to facilitate AI expansion.

Japanese innovation

2025 saw Japanese innovation under the spotlight, as the country sought to drive adoption of renewable energy to meet its climate targets. Earlier this year Japan expanded its foray into renewables with the opening of its  first osmotic power plant in Fukuoka, making it only the second such facility operational in the world.

However, our most read story this year was one which broke just before 2025 began. The news that researchers at Japan’s RIKEN Center had created a durable plastic which is not only fully-recyclable, but also dissolves in sea water, was our most popular story in 2025. The new plastics have been created by combining two ionic monomers that form cross-linked salt bridges, which provide strength and flexibility. Initial tests combined a common food additive ‘sodium hexametaphosphate’ with guanidinium ion-based monomers. Both components can be metabolised by bacteria, ensuring biodegradability once the plastic is dissolved into its components. The researchers found that in soil, sheets of the new plastic degraded completely over the course of 10 days, supplying the soil with phosphorous and nitrogen, similar to fertilizer. This presents a revolutionary alternative to traditional plastics which are polluting oceans with harmful microplastics.

Access the full article here: Bye-bye microplastics? Japanese researchers create ‘revolutionary’ plastic which dissolves in salt water

Exciting content coming in 2026

As we move further into the new year, keep an eye on your inbox for our upcoming Top Trends for 2026 research, this whitepaper aims to identify the major sustainability trends set to play out over the coming months.

In addition, ZCA has a fantastic schedule of content planned for the coming year, including new editions of our Green Skills research, Cleantech, and our Electric Vehicles & Charging Infrastructure report, alongside new market research reports.

We also have exciting plans for our Cleantech awards with the 2026 edition promising to be even bigger. Watch this space…

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