Announcement: Dan Ioschpe will lead as COP30 High-Level Champion. Read more here.
Parts of this site were translated using AI. Accuracy may vary.
Announcement: Dan Ioschpe will lead as COP30 High-Level Champion. Read more here.
Parts of this site were translated using AI. Accuracy may vary.
Non-State Actors Step Up to Accelerate Climate Action on the Road to COP 30
Friday, 30 May 2025
From left to right: José Vicente Troya, UNDP Hub Manager; Mammad Talibov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Mexico, Nigar Arpadarai, COP 29 Climate Champion; Ana Toni, COP 30 CEO; Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Republic of Azerbaijan / COP 29 Chief Negotiator; Juan Navarro, Minister of Environment of Panama; Simon Stiell, UNFCCC Executive Secretary; Noura Hamladji, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary; Oscar Vallarino Bernat, Vice Minister of Environment of Panama; Hilen Meirovich, Climate Change Head at IDB Invest; Juan Bello, Director, UNEP’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The urgent need to scale and accelerate climate action from the real economy was a central theme at Latin America Climate Week, held in Panama City, from 19 to 23 May.
Leaders across civil society and the global economy gathered to align local and regional efforts with the global climate agenda to ensure momentum feeds into the intergovernmental process leading to COP 30 in Belém. The focus: advancing solutions that deliver for both people and the planet.
“There’s still a long way to go but we have the solutions to supercharge the transition and chart a path towards a safer and healthier future - by driving ambition, sustaining momentum, and cementing a legacy of inclusive, transformative climate action,” said the High-Level Champion for COP 29, Nigar Arpadarai.
To shape the future of climate action, Nigar Arpadarai joined representatives of business, subnational governments, civil society, and local communities. Together with Ana Toni, CEO of COP 30 and the High-Level Champion for COP 30, Dan Ioschpe, Nigar highlighted the urgent necessity to scale up solutions already underway and build on the lessons learned from previous years. Meanwhile Ioschpe reinforced the need to focus on real implementation to accelerate climate action in the years ahead.
Small and Medium Enterprises were highlighted as crucial engines of climate innovation. Arpadarai engaged in discussions to address the barriers hindering the needed investments to scale solutions, highlighting that tangible real-economy action can spur systemic changes at speed and scale.
Spotlighting the progress of the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns to deliver concrete actions, the High-Level Champion for COP 29 emphasized that partnerships are key to ensure that the upcoming COP is not only a milestone in the climate calendar but a true turning point in the Global Climate Action Agenda.
Country-level climate plans, or ‘Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)’ were another focal point of the discussions. Leaders from across sectors explored opportunities to unlock investment, create jobs, protect nature, and build more resilient and fairer societies through robust NDCs.
Nature Summit
Running in parallel with the Climate Week, the Nature Summit - co-hosted by Panama’s Ministry of Environment brought together government leaders, philanthropists, family offices, and business leaders to mobilize capital for nature. The summit aimed to strengthen global cooperation and forge partnerships to accelerate the blue and green economy transitions.
Climate Weeks
Looking ahead, the ‘Climate Weeks 2025: Dialogues for Ambition and Implementation’ will be held twice annually in different regions, maintaining a global focus on collaboration and action. The second Climate Week is expected to take place ahead of COP 30.
