10 sustainability experts’ advice from around the world on building a greener, more resilient future
The world stands at a critical juncture in the fight against climate change and pursuing sustainable development. With the window for meaningful climate action narrowing, 2025 has become a significant milestone for businesses, governments, and societies to accelerate progress toward a greener and more resilient future. Global sustainability leaders are increasingly emphasizing the need to establish clear, actionable roadmaps that address our time’s environmental and social challenges.
To help shape this future, we have gathered advice from 10 leading sustainability experts from across the globe. These experts share their insights on the key steps that should be taken between now and 2025 to create a more sustainable world. Their advice covers various critical topics, from decarbonization and renewable energy to circular economy models and biodiversity conservation.
1. Christiana Figueres – Accelerate Decarbonization
Essential Advice: Cut emissions by 50% by 2025.
Christiana Figueres, the former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and architect of the Paris Agreement emphasizes that immediate and drastic emissions cuts are the most critical step in tackling climate change. She advocates for a 50% reduction in global carbon emissions by 2025 to stay on track for the 1.5°C target.
Figueres stresses the importance of transitioning away from fossil fuels, investing in renewable energy, and promoting energy efficiency across all sectors. According to her, businesses and governments must set aggressive short-term emissions reduction goals, align corporate strategies with net-zero pathways, and implement carbon pricing mechanisms.
Example of Action:
Countries like Denmark and companies like Microsoft have pledged to become carbon neutral or carbon negative by 2025, setting an example for others to follow.
2. Paul Polman – Embed Sustainability in Business Strategy
Essential Advice: Sustainability must be at the heart of business.
Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever and co-author of Net Positive, advocates for businesses to drive sustainability. He argues that companies must integrate environmental and social goals into their core strategies rather than treating sustainability as a separate initiative.
Polman encourages businesses to adopt a net positive mindset, giving back more to society and the planet than they take. This means actively contributing to solutions for global challenges like inequality, climate change, and resource depletion.
Example of Action:
Under Polman’s leadership, Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan has been a model for embedding sustainability into business strategy, leading to significant environmental and social impact.
3. Kate Raworth – Adopt a Circular Economy Approach
Essential Advice: Move away from ‘take-make-waste’ to circular models.
Kate Raworth, the creator of the Doughnut Economics model, advises that by 2025, businesses and governments must fully embrace the circular economy. The linear “take-make-waste” model of production and consumption is unsustainable, depleting natural resources and causing pollution. Raworth advocates for circular economy models that minimize waste, reuse materials, and design products with longevity and sustainability in mind.
She urges businesses to rethink product design, shift to closed-loop systems, and encourage consumers to engage in sustainable consumption practices. Policies that promote recycling reduce waste, and encourage innovation in circularity should be top priorities for governments.
Example of Action
The European Union’s Circular Economy Action Plan aims to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and foster innovation in circular business models, setting a benchmark for others.
4. Bill McKibben – Strengthen Climate Justice
Essential Advice: Climate justice must be at the center of climate action.
Bill McKibben, environmentalist, author, and founder of 350.org, emphasizes that the most vulnerable communities—those least responsible for climate change—are often the hardest hit by its impacts. By 2025, McKibben insists that climate justice must become a core principle in sustainability efforts, ensuring marginalized groups receive the resources, support, and representation needed to adapt to climate change.
McKibben calls for wealthy nations and corporations to provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries and vulnerable communities, addressing the disproportionate effects of climate change on the Global South. He also stresses the importance of including Indigenous knowledge in environmental policies and conservation efforts.
Example of Action:
The Green Climate Fund, established under the UNFCCC, provides financial assistance to developing countries to help them mitigate and adapt to climate change, reflecting the principle of climate justice.
5. Naoko Ishii – Focus on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Protection
Essential Advice: Preserve biodiversity to safeguard planetary health.
Naoko Ishii, former CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), emphasizes the urgent need to protect biodiversity and restore ecosystems as a critical pillar of sustainability. By 2025, she argues, global efforts should focus on reversing biodiversity loss, preserving endangered species, and restoring degraded ecosystems.
Ishii advocates for governments, businesses, and conservation organizations to collaborate on large-scale restoration projects, enforce more robust biodiversity protection policies, and promote sustainable land-use practices. Protecting biodiversity is essential for maintaining ecosystem services vital to human health, food security, and climate resilience.
Example of Action:
Costa Rica has been a global leader in biodiversity conservation, with initiatives such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), which incentivize landowners to protect forests and biodiversity.
6. Fatih Birol – Accelerate Renewable Energy Transition
Essential Advice: Renewables must be the backbone of energy systems.
Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), highlights the urgent need for a rapid and comprehensive transition to renewable energy by 2025. According to Birol, scaling up wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources is essential to decarbonizing the global economy and achieving net-zero emissions.
Birol emphasizes reducing fossil fuel subsidies, increasing investment in clean energy technologies, and building resilient infrastructure. He also stresses the need for international cooperation to ensure all countries, particularly developing nations, access affordable, clean energy.
Example of Action:
Countries like Germany have set ambitious targets for renewable energy adoption, with plans to generate 65% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030, well ahead of many global counterparts.
Greta Thunberg – Mobilize Youth for Climate Action
Essential Advice: Youth movements are crucial to driving urgent climate action.
Greta Thunberg, climate activist and founder of the Fridays for Future movement believes that youth must play a central role in shaping the 2025 sustainability roadmap. According to Thunberg, young people are often the most vocal advocates for climate action, and their activism has the power to hold governments and corporations accountable.
Thunberg encourages policymakers to listen to youth voices and include them in decision-making processes related to climate change and sustainability. She also stresses the importance of climate education in empowering young people to drive meaningful change.
Example of Action:
The Fridays for Future movement, started by Thunberg, has mobilized millions of young people worldwide to demand more decisive climate action from political leaders.
8. Patricia Espinosa – Strengthen International Climate Cooperation
Essential Advice: Global collaboration is critical to achieving the Paris Agreement goals.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, emphasizes that achieving the Paris Agreement’s climate goals requires unprecedented international cooperation. By 2025, countries must work together more effectively to enhance their climate commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and close the emissions gap.
Espinosa highlights the importance of creating transparent mechanisms for tracking climate progress and holding countries accountable for their commitments. She also calls for more significant financial support from developed nations to help developing countries meet their climate goals.
Example of Action:
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) 2021 made significant progress in enhancing international cooperation, with many countries committing to more vital climate targets and financial pledges for climate adaptation.
9. Jeremy Rifkin – Embrace the Green New Deal
Essential Advice: Adopt a Green New Deal to transform economies.
Jeremy Rifkin, economist and author of The Green New Deal, advocates for governments to adopt bold economic plans that align with sustainability goals. By 2025, Rifkin argues, nations should implement Green New Deal policies prioritizing green jobs, renewable energy, and infrastructure development while phasing out fossil fuel industries.
Rifkin’s vision of a Green New Deal includes significant public and private investment in clean energy, transportation, and sustainable agriculture. He also emphasizes the role of education and training programs to prepare workers for the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Example of Action:
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with ambitious plans to decarbonize the economy, protect biodiversity, and create millions of green jobs.
10. Inger Andersen – Invest in Nature-Based Solutions
Critical Advice: Nature-based solutions are essential for climate resilience.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), champions nature-based solutions (NbS) as a critical tool for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. By 2025, Andersen calls for greater investment in NbS, such as reforestation, wetland restoration, and sustainable agriculture.
Andersen argues that NbS can provide multiple benefits, including carbon sequestration, flood protection, and biodiversity enhancement. She stresses the need for governments and businesses to recognize the value of ecosystems and prioritize nature-based approaches in their sustainability strategies.
Example of Action:
Countries like Rwanda have launched large-scale reforestation projects to restore degraded land and enhance climate resilience through nature-based solutions.
The Path Forward to 2025
As the global community faces mounting environmental and social challenges, the advice from these ten sustainability experts highlights the critical steps that must be taken by 2025 to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. The path forward from decarbonization and renewable energy transitions to climate justice and circular economy models requires bold action, collaboration, and a shared commitment to sustainability.
By following these expert recommendations, businesses, governments, and individuals can contribute to a greener, fairer, and more prosperous world for future generations.
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