News & Views: The Global Climate Action Agenda is moving. Here's what happened in Mumbai – and what's ahead for COP31

Meet Samed Ağırbaş, COP31 Climate High-Level Champion

Image: Samed Ağırbaş speaks about sustainability in Istanbul.

The COP31 Climate High-Level Champion, Samed Ağırbaş, brings a rare perspective to international diplomacy – coming from a humble background, to leading the Zero Waste Foundation, to one of the most visible roles in global climate action.

That journey, Ağırbaş says, has shaped how he sees climate change: it cannot be about abstract policy frameworks. Instead, it is about whether families can afford food or have access to renewable energy. Whether farmers can rely on the seasons. Whether cities can provide clean water and stable jobs, especially for people on the margins. It is also about opportunity – who has it, and who is denied it.

In his first interview as Climate High-Level Champion, Ağırbaş reflects on the experiences that shaped him, the voices the climate process still needs to hear, and how a Zero Waste mindset can help accelerate implementation across the Global Climate Action Agenda.

Read the full interview

Mumbai Climate Week Delivers Billion-Dollar Investment Programs and Heat Plans

Image: A view from a room at the Taj Mahal Towers hotel in Mumbai.

Mumbai Climate Week showcased new progress across the Global Climate Action Agenda. Kicking off the announcements, India’s state of Maharashtra launched an investment platform to mobilise billions in private finance for clean energy and resilient infrastructure. In parallel, Maharashtra officials and World Resources Institute India announced a pipeline of more than 1,000 ready-to-fund climate projects across 44 cities. The projects span transport, energy and buildings, water and waste management – and are structured to attract private investment, not just government grants.

Equally significant: 30 cities across Maharashtra signed on to the global Beat the Heat coalition, backed by the United Nations Environment Programme. As one of the Plans to Accelerate Solutions launched at COP30, Beat the Heat helps cities prepare for longer, hotter summers through better cooling systems, urban planning and early warning tools.

On food and agriculture, the Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes launched its second Country Landscape Accelerator in India – part of a coalition mobilising $9 billion by 2030 to advance regenerative farming across 110 countries.

“Climate action must improve living conditions just as policy must lead to positive actions on the ground”, said Samed Ağırbaş, COP31 Climate High-Level Champion.

“In South and Southeast Asia, that means helping farmers protect their harvests, making cities greener, promoting clean industry, reducing waste, and ensuring communities have access to climate finance. The Action Agenda is how we connect these solutions to the communities that need them most”.

Read the full recap

In case you missed it

• The UNFCCC has announced the 2026 Climate Weeks – CW3 and CW4 - which will take place in Yeosu, Republic of Korea (21-25 April) and Baku, Azerbaijan (7-11 September), bringing together Parties and non-Party stakeholders to accelerate climate action and implementation. The programme for CW3 has been published and a key highlight will be the Implementation Forum (23-24 April), featuring events focused on practical solutions and based on the six axes of the Global Climate Action Agenda, ensuring alignment to the first Global Stocktake outcomes. Registration for the Implementation Forum is now open until 15 April (subject to space availability). Stay tuned for more details on sessions and participation. Read more.

• The seventh global dialogue and investment-focused event under the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme will take place during Climate Week in Yeosu from 21 to 23 April 2026, focusing on enabling mitigation ambition and implementation in industries. In line with their mandate to support the work programme, the Champions encourage submissions on the opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers by 24 March.

• All calls for submissions from COP30 in Belém across the different workstreams are available on this page. Guidance on how to make a submission can be found here.

• The COP30 Presidency invites views on roadmaps for Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels in a Just, Orderly and Equitable Manner and Halting and Reversing Deforestation and Forest Degradation by 2030 ahead of the 31 March deadline using the following email addresses, COP30-TAFF-Roadmap@unfccc.int and COP30-Forest-Roadmap@unfccc.int, respectively.

• On World Wildlife Day, our partners Edges of the Earth traveled to New Zealand to explore a protection program for Yellow-Eyed Penguins. Read more.

• On International Women’s Day, we spotlight Tanzania’s first all-women dive lab that is restoring reefs through the Race to Resilience. Read more.

Mark your calendar

• Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington, D.C., USA, 13 – 18 April.

• UNFCCC Climate Week 3, Yeosu, Republic of Korea, 21-25 April.

• UN Forum on Forests, New York City, USA, 11 – 15 May.

• Africa CEO Forum, Kigali, Rwanda, 14 – 15 May.

• Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum, Baku, Azerbaijan, 17–22 May

• Rio Nature & Climate Week, Rio, Brazil, 1 – 6 June.

• Bonn Climate Conference (SB 64), Bonn, Germany, 8 – 18 June.

• G7 Summit, Évian, France, 14 - 16 June.

• London Climate Action Week, London, UK, 20 – 28 June.

• IEA Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, Montreal, Canada, 29 – 30 June.