The UN’s top climate official says COP31 must focus on turning climate commitments into real-world results as countries face mounting economic costs from climate change.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell made the call in Nadi ahead of the UN climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, which begins in four weeks.
Stiell said the impacts of climate change were already being felt across economies, with El Niño adding further pressure.
“Every nation is now on the front lines of the climate crisis. Every economy is already getting hammered, and now El Nino is up the ante and supercharging these climate costs,” he said.
He said small island states had much at stake, while pointing to the Pacific’s response to the climate crisis as an example of the cooperation and practical solutions needed.
“Throughout the week, this region has shown again how to meet danger with determination, innovation, cooperation, and practical solutions,” Stiell said.
He said COP31 should build on that approach by accelerating implementation and turning existing commitments into tangible results.
“This is what COP31 can and must do, help convert promises into more real-world results,” he said.
Climate finance will be a key part of that effort, with Stiell calling for countries to scale up and speed up finance while broadening access to affordable funding.
He said countries must deliver on existing finance commitments, including the new finance goal, while using the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to build towards US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035.
Stiell also called for the COP process to be brought closer to the real economy, with governments, businesses, investors, cities and communities working together on projects and partnerships that can attract finance and deliver results.
He said negotiations would remain central to the COP process, particularly as countries move towards the second Global Stocktake at COP33.
While there may not be a single major headline agreement on the agenda at COP31, Stiell said there were still “complex and vital issues” that countries would need to resolve.
“That is incredibly hard when every country must agree on every single word,” he said.
Stiell said the pre-COP meetings in Fiji had shown both the progress made and the amount of work still required before the Antalya summit.
The action agenda will also be important, he said, with practical work needed in areas including electrification, methane reduction, waste and ocean protection.
Stiell said no single COP could solve the global climate crisis, but COP31 needed to accelerate progress on practical measures.
“All recent COPs have moved the world a significant step forward, and so must COP31.
“With just four weeks till COP starts in Antalya, there is no time to lose,” he said.
