2024 was the hottest year on record

First came the hottest July in history. Then the hottest summer. Now, 2024 has officially been named the hottest year on record, according to a collective release of data from scientists in multiple countries and from multiple organizations.

With global temperatures breaking through the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming under 1.5 C, the age-old debates about who should shoulder the burden of change required to limit future warming — the public or private sector, the developed or developing economies — will once again rage into 2025.

At the center of that debate this year, is likely to be nuclear energy.

Last year, nuclear enjoyed something of a renaissance. Due to its insatiable AI demands, Big Tech is hungry for more energy-guzzling data centers, forcing the tech titans to look for larger, more reliable options for energy like nuclear. In 2024, Amazon, Google, and Oracle all invested in major nuclear projects, ranging from the infamous Three Mile Island power plant to small modular reactors. Nuke stocks like Vistra Corp and Constellation Energy soared as a result, momentum that they have carried into 2025 already.

Separately, some businesses around the world have started to roll back on green efforts, including the withdrawal of megabanks like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley from climate coalitions last week.