Stiell urges COP31 to turn climate pledges into practical action
By: Oluwaseun Lawal
ANTALYA, Türkiye — The world has no shortage of climate targets. The harder task is making them work in people’s lives. That was the message from UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell as COP31 opened in Antalya, where he urged governments to focus on practical delivery alongside negotiations.
Stiell said the conference should help translate existing global goals and national plans into specific steps. For years, climate summits have sent signals to governments and markets by setting targets and agreeing on a direction. Those signals have helped shift investment: he pointed to the falling cost of renewable energy, noting that most large renewable projects are now cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives. But the gains remain uneven, and progress is still too slow to meet the scale of the challenge.
The next phase, he argued, must bring solutions closer to the people and countries that need them. That includes increasing adaptation finance, making pledged funds easier to access, expanding renewable power and improving the grids that move electricity across regions and borders. Methane reductions also featured in his appeal, particularly in oil and gas operations and the waste sector.
These issues are connected. Stiell said action to cut methane and accelerate electrification could significantly reduce projected global heating. Clean electricity can power transport, buildings and industry, while stronger grids and storage help make renewable energy more reliable. The task now is to turn those broad ambitions into projects, funding and changes that can be measured.
Access to finance is a major obstacle. Some countries have plans for adaptation and clean-energy transitions but struggle to secure the money needed to carry them out. Stiell called for progress on the commitment to increase adaptation finance and said countries need practical help navigating funds already made available. A promise matters, he suggested, only when the resources reach the communities facing the risks.
The conference’s Action Agenda is intended to help coordinate work beyond the formal negotiations. Türkiye and Australia are partnering to advance solutions through both the negotiations and the wider agenda. Stiell welcomed that effort and said the UN climate secretariat wants to help countries identify opportunities, connect with partners and track progress.
There is a gap in participation, though. Stiell noted that many developing countries have not been able to engage fully with the Action Agenda and could miss out on support for resilience and clean energy. He invited countries, voluntarily, to nominate contacts who could receive updates from the secretariat. He also called for more coordination among climate-focused events around the world.
The Action Agenda, he stressed, is meant to help countries meet their existing commitments, not replace them. Formal negotiations remain central to the process, and he said strong agreements are needed on the issues already on the table.
Those include a proposed Just Transition Mechanism to help societies manage the shift to cleaner economies, adaptation measures that can guide funding and national progress, and mitigation efforts that speed up emissions reductions across sectors. On finance, Stiell said negotiators should clarify how countries can deliver on existing goals, including the commitments of $300 billion and $1.3 trillion, without reopening earlier agreements. That work will require action across the wider financial system, not governments alone.
The urgency was not abstract in his remarks. Stiell pointed to deadly impacts in the Himalayas and warned that a strong El Niño could intensify climate pressures already affecting communities and economies. Poorer and more exposed communities often face the highest costs, despite having fewer resources to respond. Fairness, he said, needs to be built into the shift to clean energy and greater resilience.
Households are also dealing with volatile fossil-fuel costs. Stiell described recent price shocks as a burden on families and economies, while presenting renewable energy as part of the response. He cited estimates that renewables saved about $500 billion globally last year and another $265 billion in the first half of 2026. Adaptation, he added, can also deliver economic returns by reducing the damage caused by climate impacts.
Stiell acknowledged that a single summit cannot resolve the climate crisis. But he said COP31 can help speed up implementation and prepare the ground for the next global stocktake, due in two years. He also raised concerns about the UN climate secretariat’s own resources, saying its responsibilities are growing while its funding is shrinking.
His closing appeal was direct: use the conference to make faster progress. That means translating agreements into projects, making finance accessible, and ensuring benefits reach more people. The test of COP31, in that sense, will come after delegates leave Antalya—when decisions are put into practice.
This article is a paraphrase of Simon Stiell’s COP31 opening statement. UN Climate Change’s published statement.
Oluwaseun Musa Lawal is an Editor at REPORTERS ROOM with over eight years of professional journalism experience. He specializes in reporting on politics, climate change, health, and education, while also covering security, economic, and judicial affairs. His work is driven by a commitment to accuracy, balanced reporting, and public-interest journalism.