This report presents 10 salient insights from climate change research, stemming mainly from literature published in 2021 and 2022. Taken together they reveal the complexities of the interactions between climate change and other risks, such as conflicts, pandemics, food crises and underlying development challenges – pushing us ever closer to breaking past the socioecological limits within which people and ecosystems must remain to thrive. The purpose of the publication is not only to identify the mounting impacts of climate change and multiple barriers to climate action, but also to highlight implications and recommendations in support of a way forward for negotiators, policymakers and other relevant actors. Insight 1 – Questioning the myth of endless adaptation Insight 2 – Vulnerability hotspots cluster in ‘regions at risk’ Insight 3 – New threats on the horizon from climate–health interactions Insight 4 – Climate mobility: from evidence to anticipatory action Insight 5 – Human security requires climate security Insight 6 – Sustainable land use is essential to meeting climate targets Insight 7 – Private sustainable finance practices are failing to catalyse deep transitions Insight 8 – Loss and Damage: the urgent planetary imperative Insight 9 – Inclusive decision-making for climate-resilient development Insight 10 – Breaking down structural barriers and unsustainable lock-ins