As 2024 comes to a close, we have reflected on the many significant events of this intense year. We want to share the five key trends driving the environmental services sector in 2025.
1| Beyond Net-Zero: Embracing a Nature Positive Economy
While carbon dioxide (CO₂) often takes the spotlight, it’s important to remember that biodiversity, water, and soil health are just as crucial for our planet. We believe that by 2025, we’ll move beyond just focusing on a decarbonised economy and embrace a Nature Positive model.
So far, the urgency of the climate crisis and the significance of the 2015 Paris Agreement have put carbon in the limelight, and it’s easy to see why. However, recent events like the Vaia storm, the floods in Emilia-Romagna, and the floods in Spain remind us to look at the whole picture. We must pay attention to biodiversity, water, and soil alongside climate issues.
While Net Zero targets are all about balancing out greenhouse gas emissions, a Nature Positive approach lets companies take a broader view, helping them understand their impacts on our natural world.
An increasingly important aspect, not least because of the entry into force of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will bring a further boost to the corporate responsibility landscape by leading companies to consider environmental commitment across the board.
2| The Role of Biodiversity: The Influence of the Nature Restoration Law
In 2024, the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) came into effect, marking a historic step for ecosystem restoration in Europe. The regulation mandates EU member states to collectively restore at least 20% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030 and all degraded ecosystems by 2050.
The year 2025 will be pivotal for turning this regulation into concrete actions. By 2026, all member states, including Italy, must present a National Restoration Plan outlining the actions to be implemented by June 2032.
The NRL sets the stage for 2025, where biodiversity takes on a strategic role for businesses and public administrations, transitioning from legislative approval to actionable execution.
3| The Carbon Credit Market: Supervising New Standards
In 2024, national, European, and international efforts aimed to establish more precise regulations and tools for carbon capture and removal.
The proposed Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) marked the first voluntary EU framework for certifying carbon removals at the European level. Additionally, Italy is working on a National Forestry Carbon Code, which will regulate the domestic voluntary carbon market. This initiative follows the establishment of Italy’s National Carbon Credit Registry in 2023.
Internationally, during COP29 in Baku, guidelines for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement were defined. These introduced new, non-binding rules for global carbon credit markets and established a UN-managed quality assurance system for funded activities.
In 2025, we anticipate a trend toward consolidating and supervising criteria and methodologies within these evolving regulatory frameworks. Companies striving to decarbonise and achieve Net Zero goals will benefit from clearer tools to guide their decisions.
4| Not Just Carbon Credits: Financing Nature with Biodiversity Credits
If 2024 had a key phrase, it would be climate finance. Across all levels—national and international—negotiations around ecological transition actions have often stalled on financial issues. Finding new financial tools for nature and climate is becoming increasingly urgent.
While biodiversity credits have yet to receive official approval at national and EU levels, 2025 will see growing interest in them as a solution to bridge the financial gap for nature-based interventions. Emerging regulatory frameworks will likely address biodiversity, water, and other environmental attributes.
Biodiversity credits are a critical tool for financing projects such as reintroducing endangered species and restoring habitats. However, their implementation requires clear conditions:
- Transparent governance;
- Engagement of local communities;
- Rigorous measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems.
As emphasised during COP16 in Cali, unlike carbon credits, which operate on a global scale, biodiversity interventions must be localised: an impacted hectare within a specific biome must be restored in the same biome (like-for-like). This shortens supply chains, favouring more direct and concrete impacts at a local level.
5| A New Normal: Adaptation Activities
In November 2024, the European Earth observation program, Copernicus, confirmed that “2024 will officially be the hottest year on record, marking the first year we have exceeded +1.5°C above pre-industrial levels set by the Paris Agreement.”
While this is not yet a stable trend—necessary to definitively confirm climate change thresholds—it signals uncharted territory. The impacts of climate change are already visible: heatwaves, droughts, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, particularly in the Mediterranean basin, a recognised climate hotspot.
In 2025, adaptation to climate change will become the new normal. Nature-based solutions—such as trees and green infrastructure—will play a central role in cooling cities, protecting soils, reducing flood risks, and improving quality of life.
Governments, public administrations, and businesses must act, investing in strategies that integrate mitigation and adaptation to protect their operations, communities, and territories from increasing vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
2025 will be a pivotal year, as evolving European and national regulations will increasingly influence sustainability strategies in businesses and public entities. Environmental priorities will broaden to address the complexities of ecosystems, giving equal importance to climate, nature, and biodiversity.
By embracing these trends, companies and institutions can lead the transition towards a nature-positive and resilient future while developing a model for long-term responsible growth.