2025 was a year in which the sustainability conversation left the vast halls of international summits and entered cities, homes and everyday language of ordinary people. At Sustainability For All, we gathered some of the content that has stood out during these past months: stories which speak of infrastructure, energy, economy, nature and, at the center of all of this, people. 

In June 2025, the global population climbed above 8,229 million people. Eight billion biographies, needs, and dreams scattered across a finite planet. And, according to some studies, it could be that we’re not even counting everyone: millions of people in rural areas of the Global South are not the subject of censuses.

In our article about paradoxes in global population growth, we analyze this human map full of contrasts: megacities with populations bigger than some countries, villages with a single inhabitant, all leading to the inevitable question: how can we all live well without surpassing the Earth’s limits? 

Part of the answer lies in how we build and prepare our cities. In 2025, we took a look at Mozambique in order to understand the power of resilient infrastructure in the face of increasingly extreme meteorological phenomena. It’s not just about resisting cyclones and floods, for example, but of protecting the most vulnerable districts from becoming the hardest hit. Designing infrastructure that protects everyone equally is a way of reducing inequalities. 

The other face of this life in common is the energy that sustains our activities. In the article on solar panel recycling, we ask what happens when these solar plants, generating clean electricity for decades, come to the end of their useful lives. More than 90% of their weight consists of recoverable materials like glass, aluminum and plastic. Closing this cycle, the energy transition is not just “green” in its generation phase, but judged on the way it manages its waste.

In no way are we living in the first era where human ingenuity manages to do more with less. Nothing reminds us more of this fact than when traveling to La Granja de San Ildefonso, where, as far back as the 18^th Century, engineers were designing an hydraulic system to move thousands of liters of water using gravity alone in order to feed monumental fountains. Three centuries later and this work of baroque engineering is seen as a model nature-based solution through its use of gradients, its respect for the land, and care for water. A lesson in efficiency living on in modern water management techniques. 

Broadening our focus on local ingenuity to global governance, 2025 was the year of COP30 in Belem do Para, Brazil, the first climate summit to be held in this Amazonian city. Alongside the signing of important agreements and listening to the challenges that need to be overcome, climate change also entails opportunities. Positive solutions and milestones in the energy transition, sustainability and ecology. These are known as tipping points, as we explain in this video:

For this to be possible at scale, we need to reform our relationship with resources. In this article on urban mining, we explain how disused mobile phones, computers and other devices have effectively become a mine for critical metals. Recovering materials from electronic waste is essential for autonomy and a truly circular economy. 

All this leads us to a profound question: is there an economic system that can sustain over 8 billion people without breaking the planet? This is where the “doughnut model” of English economist Kate Raworth enters the equation. She proposes a “social floor” that would ensure no-one was left without their basic rights, and an “ecological ceiling” we should not exceed. Between these two limits lies a safe and just space where humanity can prosper.

In 2025, the donut metaphor had become one of the most evocative terms used in rethinking public policies and business strategies.

En 2025, esta metáfora del dónut se ha consolidado como uno de los marcos más sugerentes para repensar políticas públicas y estrategias empresariales.

Sometimes, though, it’s an image that strikes us. In this article on the Pacific albatross, we examine the photos of Chris Jordan from the island of Midway. Dead chicks with stomachs full of plastic bits, bottle tops and lighters. He describes it as follows: “This bird is us.” Midway signifies “halfway”,  and the metaphor is hard to ignore. We are halfway between consciousness and collapse, between continuing as we are now or changing direction.

And so that we don’t lose our footing at this critical juncture, we need to emply the correct words. In this article on sustainability language, we explore how terms such as resilience, climate neutrality and greenwashing represent the reality we’re seeing. Language can clarify or confuse, mobilize or anaesthetize. It depends on how we use it. Eight billion people sharing the planet is a gigantic challenge, but also a unique opportunity. If we name correctly what’s happening, it will be easier to agree on how to change the situation.