Renewable energy and climate action boomed in communities, states, and the world in 2025, despite setbacks at the federal level in the U.S, so much so that Science designated the "seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy" as its 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Climate solutions come in all shapes and sizes, and at Yale Climate Connections, we started off the year with the launch of our climate solutions hub, a page designed to help you easily identify climate actions that fit into your life. It's a great place to find a climate-related New Year's resolution if that's your jam.
To close 2025 out on a high note, check out our favorite solutions stories of the year.
Sara Peach, editor-in-chief:
The solar panels Germans are plugging into their walls, by Yale Climate Connections' radio team
In Germany, people who want to go solar can simply go to the store, buy a solar panel, and plug it in at home. These plug-in solar systems send power directly into a home through a normal wall outlet.
(Sara says, "This development makes solar panels accessible to renters. When it's time to move, just unplug the panel and carry it to your new apartment.")
Bill McKibben says cheap solar could topple Big Oil's power, by Michael Svoboda
There is one big good thing happening on this planet. And that is the sudden surge in the use of what, for the last 40 years, we've called alternative energy, but which has now become the most obvious, straightforward way to make power.
Pearl Marvell, features editor, Yale Climate Connections en español:
When Helene hit, they lost their homes. Under Trump, they could lose even more, by Yessenia Funes
He wasn't planning to step in - until his team informed him that some immigrant enclaves were still waiting on help a month after the storm. They brainstormed a list of what families must need as winter approached: coats, heaters, blankets, generators, food, cash. When they began distributing items, many told the group that theirs was the first to offer them help.
(Pearl says, "I love this article because Yessenia wrote this story so beautifully and focused it primarily on how this community came together to help each other in times of need. I love when we can tell stories that are people-focused and then backed up by science.)
The rest of the world is lapping the U.S. in the EV race, by Dana Nuccitelli
According to an analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation, climate pollution from global road transportation may have peaked in 2025 thanks to accelerating EV deployments around the world.
(Pearl says, "Because at least the rest of the world is going in the right direction.")
Sam Harrington, director of audience experience:
A third of Americans don't drive. So why is our transportation so car-centric? by Sarah Wesseler
It really is about, at a systemic level, what can we do to make it easier for people to get where they need to go and not have to drive there.
(Sam says, "I loved this Q&A and found it to be so useful in framing conversations around public transportation. Systems that are designed to care for the most marginalized can make all of our lives easier and more connected.)
Puerto Rican municipalities take on Big Oil in court using a law made for the mob, by Pearl Marvell.
The suit seeks damages tied to the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017 - storms that, according to recent science, were intensified by warming oceans and increased atmospheric moisture caused by climate-warming pollution.