The Global Tipping Points Report 2025
The world has reached its first major climate tipping point - the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs - according to the Global Tipping Points Report 2025, led by the University of Exeter with the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and international partners. Coral reefs, which support nearly a billion people and a quarter of all marine life, are dying as ocean temperatures rise. Without reversing global warming, most reefs will vanish, though small refuges may survive.
Authored by 160 scientists from 87 institutions, the report warns that other critical tipping points including melting ice sheets, Amazon rainforest dieback, and ocean current collapse are dangerously close. These changes could trigger irreversible transformations across the planet. However, the report highlights positive tipping points already reached in renewable energy: rapid growth in solar, wind, electric vehicles, and battery technology shows that large-scale change is possible. Coordinated policy can accelerate these shifts and steer the world away from catastrophe.
Equity and justice are central to the solutions. Researchers stress that climate action must address systemic inequality to ensure a fair, sustainable future. As leaders prepare for COP30 in Brazil, the report urges them to integrate tipping point science into governance and economic planning. The collapse of coral reefs is a stark warning, but humanity still has the power to act - to move from crisis toward transformation and a thriving, sustainable planet.