News & Views: Climate Action isn’t Stalling, it’s Shifting Gears

Türkiye Appoints Samed Ağırbaş as COP 31 Climate High-Level Champion

ImageL Samed Ağırbaş, COP 31 Climate High-Level Champion.

COP 31 President-Designate Murat Kurum has appointed Samed Ağırbaş as Climate High-Level Champion ahead of COP 31 in Antalya this November, marking a crucial handoff in global climate leadership. He will help lead the Global Climate Action Agenda and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action alongside the COP 31 Presidency and Dan Ioschpe, COP 30 Climate High-Level Champion.

Currently Ağırbaş serves as chairman of the Zero Waste Foundation in Türkiye and president of the Zero Waste Forum. He has been a leading voice on waste reduction, sustainable cities and youth entrepreneurship, including through leadership roles at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly and UN Habitat.

"People want to see cleaner energy, safer cities and real protection from climate shocks. My job is to bring climate action out of conference rooms and into daily life. I am looking forward to working with all stakeholders to support implementation,” Ağırbaş said.

Read the full announcement.

Climate Action in a Turbulent World – A New Era for the Action Agenda

As 2026 dawns, it would be easy to think the world is falling behind on global climate action. Global emissions continued to rise in 2025 and the latest UNEP Emissions Gap Report found that current national climate commitments and policies are still short of the reductions needed to limit warming to 1.5 °C. Meanwhile, governments subsidised fossil fuels to the tune of around USD 725 billion in 2024, underscoring the dependency on these energy systems rather than on ones that promote clean air and healthy livelihoods.

However, market momentum tells a more positive story. Global renewable capacity is still projected to grow by 4,600 GW by 2030 – roughly equivalent to the combined installed power capacity of China, the European Union, and Japan. To put that in context, one GW can power hundreds of thousands of homes (and by some estimates, nearly 750,000) per year. China alone installed more than 300 GW of solar and over 100 GW of wind in 2025, setting a global record, while coal generation fell in both China and India, as record amounts of clean energy came online. Europe has also added renewable capacity at an unprecedented pace. For example, an Ember report just revealed that in 2025, wind and solar produced more electricity than fossil fuels in the European Union for the first time.

Corporate energy buyers are backing up that momentum with record deals. The Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) reported that companies purchased nearly 22 GW of clean energy in 2024 (the highest amount in a single year) although 2025 numbers are yet to be released. Among 300+ major global companies surveyed in 2025 – each with over USD 100 million in revenue – 88% view sustainability as a potential driver of long-term value. Additionally, 80% say they can measure returns on investment for sustainability-related projects.

“We’re still seeing record deals in renewable technologies: Global investment reached USD 386 billion in the first half of 2025 alone – up 10% from the year before. For every dollar going into fossil fuel projects, more than two dollars went into renewable power. In the four largest emitting countries, that ratio was even higher at USD 2.60 to one,” said Dan Ioschpe, COP 30 Climate High-Level Champion.

“At the same time, many of the world’s largest corporations are increasing their sustainability commitments as they see the intrinsic value of such approaches and the overall benefits of sustainable social economic development.”

120 Plans to Accelerate Climate Solutions

At the heart of this shift is the Global Climate Action Agenda — a delivery architecture which is designed to turn shared goals into real-world progress. At COP 30, a new vision for the Action Agenda was launched with the renewal of the structure of the Marrakech Partnership to meet the practical demands of implementation.

More than 480 initiatives involving 190 countries have been brought together within the Action Agenda’s ‘Activation Groups’ to tackle barriers and speed up solutions across systems and sectors. Their work is guided by ‘Plans to Accelerate Solutions (PAS)’ – clear, time-bound roadmaps that help align policy, finance, and delivery around shared priorities. Today, more than 120 PAS are available on the UN Climate Change NAZCA Portal, including plans for buildings, power grids, health, nature-based solutions, water access, road transport, steel, and more.

Click here for more information.

Inside the Belém Health Action Plan

A nurse in Marsabit County, Kenya, writes a prescription for a woman visiting a mobile health clinic in Ntiliya village.

Climate action is also becoming increasingly cross-sectoral. For example, the Belém Health Action Plan, launched at COP 30 under Axis 5: “Fostering Human and Social Development” of the Climate Action Agenda is the first international framework specifically dedicated to climate adaptation for health systems. So far, the Plan has secured commitments from 30 countries and 50 organizations to climate-proof hospitals and clinics, strengthen disease-surveillance systems, and prepare health workers for rising heat, floods, and changing patterns of infection. It has also unlocked an initial USD 300 million in philanthropic funding.

To understand how the Belém Health Action Plan took shape – and its potential to create a step-change in climate-resilient health systems – the Climate Champions Team interviewed Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of the climate change and health unit at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Read more.

What Delivery Looks Like in Practice

Many other outcomes of the Climate Action Agenda, show that the transition is already underway at scale. To name a few examples:

• The Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) – a coalition of the world’s leading utilities established at COP 28 – will more than triple its combined renewable energy capacity by 2030, backed by USD 1 trillion. Last year alone, UNEZA built enough new grids to stretch from Belém to New Zealand.

• Adaptation finance partners announced a drive to turn National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) into project pipelines worth USD 1 trillion. This enables countries to attract large-scale investment for adapting to climate impacts, for example, by strengthening buildings and infrastructure.

• Additionally, 437 million people are now living with greater resilience to floods, droughts and other climate disasters across 134 countries.

“What we witnessed last year was the power of a global Mutirão in motion,” said Dan Ioschpe, Climate High-Level Champion for COP 30, “cities accelerating decarbonisation, businesses rethinking supply chains, financiers backing the transition at scale, and Indigenous Peoples safeguarding nature’s frontlines.”

From Belém to Antalya

COP 30 marked a re-calibration for climate action — defined not by new promises, but by steady, shared delivery where it matters most: on the ground and in people’s lives. COP 31, which will be hosted in Antalya, Türkiye will build on this momentum. In a partnership arrangement, Türkiye will assume the role of COP 31 President, while Australia will be the President of the Negotiations.

Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister, who was recently appointed COP 31 President-designate said: “I believe that our country, with its politics, bureaucracy, civil society, and population of 86 million people, will use this historic opportunity to the benefit of disadvantaged regions and the entire world.”

In support of this effort, Australia will lead the negotiations, including the production of draft text, and convene consultations to inform the negotiations. Building on the efforts of the COP 30 Brazilian Presidency, Türkiye and Australia will work together, and with Pacific island countries, to strengthen and elevate the Climate Action Agenda.

The work ahead isn't about reinventing the wheel. It's about making sure the wheel turns faster — and reaches everyone.

In case you missed it

• Twelfth Letter from COP 30 President André Corrêa do Lago where he committed to further elevate the Action Agenda, together with the Climate High-Level Champions, as a multistakeholder platform for accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement and COP decisions.

• African Coastal Cities Are Preparing For Floods: From Beira to Durban, African coastal cities are strengthening flood resilience by combining community leadership, local knowledge and climate science to protect lives and livelihoods as climate impacts intensify.

•  Pete’s Story: The Billion Oyster Project: Inspired by his roots in oyster farming, Pete Malinowski helped to launch a project to mobilize communities and students to restore New York Harbour’s oyster reefs as a natural shield against climate risks.