Mounting Momentum, Decisive Delivery: Global Climate Action Agenda Mid-Year Snapshot 2026
Monday, 20 July 2026 | By Climate High-Level Champions
Halfway between COP30 in Belém and COP31 in Antalya, this mid-year update shows that the Global Climate Action Agenda is driving focused, ambitious action across boardrooms, city halls, farms, forests, factory floors and beyond.
The Action Agenda provides the platform that brings efforts together. By connecting governments, businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil society, it accelerates implementation of the Paris Agreement and helps close the delivery gaps identified by the Global Stocktake – the UN’s assessment of global climate progress.
At COP30, more than 120 Plans to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) were launched as practical roadmaps to scale proven climate solutions, identifying the policies, finance, partnerships and delivery mechanisms needed to move further, faster. Here is how things stand today‡:
82%
of Plan leads have already shared progress updates since COP30
Who’s at the table?
91%
of Plans engage corporate players (47% companies, 44% investors)
39%
directly involve national governments — marking a massive opportunity for increased national leadership
24%
of Plans leverage local or regional authorities to scale ambition
90+
individual countries are delivering or benefitting from Plan outcomes
Across the Global Climate Action Agenda, nearly 500 coalitions and partners are advancing the implementation of their PAS. From a USD 43 billion capital surge into clean industries to pioneering zero-emissions freight corridors and hundreds of cities tackling extreme heat, the transition is moving from high-level commitments to real-world delivery.
Read on to learn how climate action ramped up across the six thematic axes of the Action Agenda in the first half of 2026.
This snapshot reflects the collective efforts of governments, businesses, cities, investors, civil society and communities working 365 days a year to advance implementation. Six months after COP30, the Action Agenda is creating continuity across COP cycles. It provides a framework to track progress against the Global Stocktake outcomes agreed by Parties, strengthen sustainable socioeconomic development, and accelerate implementation on the road to COP31 in Antalya."
COP30 Climate High-Level Champion
Around the world, people are calling for practical climate solutions whose impact they can see in their own communities. The Global Climate Action Agenda is helping turn climate commitments into visible progress that improves everyday lives. This momentum will only continue to grow as implementation accelerates on the ground on the road to COP31 in Antalya and beyond."
COP31 Climate High-Level Champion
1. Transitioning Energy, Industry and Transport
Energy, industry and transport account for around three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions, making their transformation central to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Woven throughout is a commitment to a just, orderly and equitable transition, ensuring communities dependent on fossil fuels are not left behind and that the hundreds of millions of people still without reliable electricity gain access to clean, affordable power.
Electrification is emerging as a key COP31 Presidency priority ahead of Antalya. Building on analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), COP31 President Designate Murat Kuram has called for an increase in electricity’s share of global final energy consumption from roughly 20 per cent today to 35 per cent by 2035. Achieving this shift will require faster deployment of clean power, stronger electricity grids, electrified transport and industry, and international cooperation to accelerate investment and implementation. The Action Agenda is already aligning behind this goal.
Meanwhile economies electrify, hard-to-abate sectors and fossil-fuel economies are also scaling parallel pathways to decarbonise.
For example:
A global coalition backs electrification
Eighty-five utilities take on the grid bottleneck
Electric trucks crossed 800 kilometres in Brazil
500+ transport professionals were trained to accelerate public transport electrification
International cooperation sharpens delivery
Ten-point plan launched to strengthen energy security through grid optimisation
Corporate demand for clean concrete nearly doubled its target
Transition pathways gather pace
2. Stewarding Forests, Biodiversity and the Ocean
Building on the leadership of COP30, the Action Agenda is accelerating efforts to halt deforestation, restore ecosystems, scale nature-based solutions and mobilise finance with the people and communities who steward them – including Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities. This reflects the incoming COP31 Presidency’s emphasis on Rio Synergies, the Ocean and Seas, recognising that climate, biodiversity and land degradation must be addressed together.
Key signals of progress include:
New data is helping governments, regulators and financial institutions quantify the economic risks of nature loss.
Backing for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility grows to more than 60 countries
Thirty countries are fighting wildfires with foresight
Nepal became the first Asian nation to access LEAF Coalition finance for forest protection
Indonesia has joined nearly 50 governments backing 15 million hectares of mangrove restoration
3. Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems
Agriculture and food systems are central to climate action, food security and economic resilience. The Action Agenda is accelerating the transition to regenerative agriculture, restoring degraded land, mobilising finance and building more resilient food systems that deliver healthy, sustainable diets for all.
While work continues at pace across all thematic areas, the COP31 Presidency is placing emphasis on food security, as well as reducing food waste, predominantly in the form of methane.
Key signals of progress include:
The India Landscape Accelerator entered implementation
Fortified rice programmes across six countries have reached more than 208 million people
Fifty-one countries have united behind climate finance for food systems
Restoration becomes investable
Brazil unlocks USD 6 billion for land restoration through blended finance
4. Building Resilience for Cities, Infrastructure and Water
The Action Agenda is helping cities, governments and communities build the infrastructure they need to survive and thrive in a changing climate. From flood-resilient water systems to zero-emission buildings and sustainable waste management, this work connects local action with national planning and private investment. It also aligns with the incoming COP31 Presidency’s spotlight on Climate Resilient Cities and Zero Waste.
Key signals of progress include:
Two initiatives accelerate the global Zero Waste push
14 cities, 40 million people and 50+ waste picker organisations drive circular climate action
USD 3.5 million expands building decarbonisation roadmaps across Africa and Asia-Pacific
More than 230 cities step up action on extreme heat
Climate partnership grows to 78 governments and brings subnationals into its leadership
5. Fostering Human and Social Development
Climate action is ultimately about people. The Action Agenda focuses on improving the wellbeing of all people, strengthening health systems, tackling poverty and hunger, and supporting education and culture. The aim is a just transition that works for everyone: fair, inclusive and full of opportunity.
While ensuring progress across all areas, COP31 is placing particular emphasis on youth and education as well as dynamic, resilient health systems, while the COP31 Climate High-Level Champion stresses that “climate action must reach people where they are,” adopting a human-centred lens.
In the first half of 2026, that meant hospitals, school cafeterias, heritage sites, and even advertising billboards. Key signals of progress include:
USD 2 billion for climate-resilient health systems in Brazil
Skills initiative expands to more than 50 countries to support a just transition
Fifty countries now back the Belém Declaration on Hunger and Poverty
One hundred heritage sites join a global adaptation push
7,700 creatives across 80 countries are driving new climate narratives
6. Unleashing Enablers and Accelerators
No climate transition can succeed without the finance, technology and institutional capacity to deliver it. Reflecting the COP31 Presidency’s focus on implementation — including the upcoming Climate Implementation Bridge which aims to help climate finance reach the ground faster and with greater impact — Action Agenda partners are helping countries develop investable project pipelines, unlock private capital and strengthen the tools needed to accelerate delivery.
Progress during the first half of 2026 highlights growing momentum to move climate finance and technology from commitment to action:
Nine in ten business leaders are staying the course on climate action
USD 43 billion in clean industrial projects reached final investment decision in six months
USD 1.5 billion secured to build one of the world’s largest sustainable aviation fuel refineries
Countries in Africa and Latin America gain new tools to unlock climate finance
First-ever climate data impact bond aims to transform weather forecasting
USD 21 billion in blended finance mobilised in Brazil
World’s most ambitious carbon accounting harmonisation pathway launched across 170 countries
Methane action accelerates
41 cities set new standards for sustainable data centres
Cities strengthen resilience to climate disinformation
‡ Climate Champions Team internal analysis based on the current corpus of 120 PAS registered on NAZCA, with the generous technical and data support of BCG.
