Launch of COP31 Action Agenda From Ambition to Implementation: Introducing the COP31 Action Agenda

Thank you so much. So if we can be seated, we can kick off our meeting. So today we're here for a very important meeting. So we are very excited for this meeting. So Selwyn told me that you have to be used to that gavel. So we would like to go to Antalya and make important decisions. So this bad course of the world. So we would like to say stop to this bad course, all together with our friends. And today, indeed, we kicked off a story, and we would like to share this story with all of you. And first of all, I would like to, of course, extend my respectful greetings to all our guests. We do have our deputies, MPs, UN representatives here, and also Selvin, Simon. So as a team here, we are working with them under UN, so we will be sharing our process with you all. I would like to thank all my colleagues and all participants. Of course, we are not only here today to introduce COP31 Action Agenda, but also to discuss together how we can accelerate the transition from targets to implementation of climate action. So this is why we are here. We now have a strong common understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis. So, whomever you ask today, everyone knows the importance of the issue, I think. So, we have put forward, set our targets. A significant part of the technologies We need is already available. And there are also implementable solutions in many parts of the world. The key question before us today is, have to put these solutions into practice, into real life. How will we overcome the difficulties in accessing finance, finance today? So we had a meeting with the developing countries. So it was the most important agenda item, technology, science, access to science. But finance is a sine qua non. So the difficulties in accessing finance, how we can overcome them. How will we address capacity gaps? How will we bring technology and investments together with needs? And how will we ensure that international cooperation keeps pace with implementation? As COP31 presidency, we are preparing for Antalya with the vision of an implementation COP precisely with the aim of providing concrete answers to these questions. And for us, implementation is not simply about announcing much more, many more commitments. We do have enough commitments, projects already announced. Now it is about translating existing commitments into measurable results on the ground. And our approach in this process is based on three fundamental principles: dialogue, consensus, action. Through dialogue, we listen to different needs and priorities. Through consensus, we do act. First, we would like to hear everyone and we would like to have a consensus ground. And through action, we seek to translate this partnership into concrete results. COP31 action agenda comes into play precisely at this point. So Andre is here. So our COP presidents are here. So Together, we've put forward a will, and to make it stronger, we need a mechanism, and we would like to have such a COP process. Our target is to deliver results or get results. Yes, we are talking in very good meetings. We have big rooms. Everyone has something to say, of course, undoubtedly. But Commitments are made, talk is talked, but now we need to realize our projects and targets because the point that our globe has achieved does not give us the opportunity to reach our targets. So there is finance difficulties. And also, all the world today, unfortunately, in different geographies, in different regions today, there are various difficulties, challenges. So, COP31 Action Agenda comes into play precisely at this point. Our Action Agenda brings together common priorities with measurable targets, concrete initiatives and implementation tools. Today, we will be sharing this framework with you, but we are not presenting this as a complete agenda. We are also here today to listen to you. In which areas can we accelerate implementation? What are the main bottlenecks? we face on the ground? What should we do differently in terms of finance, technology, capacity, and cooperation? And I believe that your views today will further strengthen our action agenda on the road to Antalya. And from action to implementation, let's act together so that we will have a productive and result-oriented discussion. And I would like to thank you all. Of course, we are working in this process together with UN officials. So they are a big team. And Selwyn Hart, Deputy Secretary General, I would like to give the first floor to him. Yes, please, sir.

Thank you, Minister Karum, and to your excellent team. Colleagues, welcome to the United Nations. The first decade of the Paris Agreement changed the direction of travel. It established a universal framework for climate action. It helped unleash a revolution in clean energy. It shifted trillions towards the transition and brought actors across society into the climate effort. Ten years ago, the world was heading towards or around four degrees Celsius of warming. That trajectory has been brought down significantly, but we're still far from where we need to be. Global emissions continue to rise. Finance is not flowing at scale or speed required, particularly to developing countries. Adaptation remains chronically underfunded, and too many commitments have yet to translate into changes in the real economy. We are also approaching an overshoot of the 1.5 degree goal, which makes faster action more urgent than ever. Faster action to slash emissions will limit the magnitude and duration of overshoot while protecting people and livelihoods from the climate impacts that we can no longer avoid. We must do that at a difficult political moment. when geopolitical divisions are deepening, multilateral cooperation is under strain, and economic and energy insecurity are fueling pressures to turn inwards. This is precisely when practical cooperation around solutions that deliver for people, economies, and planet matter most. So as we enter the second decade of implementation of the Paris Agreement, The challenge has changed. The first decade set the direction. The second decade must be about implementation at speed and scale. Mr. President, I fully agree with the direction that you're taking this COP. And that demands a reset of the action agenda, building on what has worked, while sharpening its focus on implementation, impact, and scale. The action agenda must become an engine of implementation, a bridge between political commitments and real-world delivery. That reset should focus on four areas. First, it must more closely be aligned with national climate and development priorities. Second, it must better connect governments with the businesses, investors, financial institutions, cities, regions, and communities that can deliver change on the ground. Third, it must broaden the participation and leadership, particularly from developing country actors. And it must strengthen accountability for results and outcomes that can deliver measurable impact at scale. Across all four, the action agenda should concentrate where collective action can make the greatest difference. The action agenda cannot become another catalogue of initiatives. The real test is what changes on the ground. Are we unlocking investment that would otherwise not flow, removing barriers that are holding back action, cutting emissions faster, protecting more people from climate impacts? And are we taking solutions that work, driving them at scale, at the scale required? Success means moving from individual projects and initiatives to transformation across sectors, markets, and economies. Mr. President, you can be assured that the United Nations system will be fully behind this effort. The Secretary-General is convinced that we must bring the collective capacities and capabilities of the entire UN system together more effectively behind implementation, supporting country priorities, building partnerships, and helping take solutions to scale. And you will hear a lot more about this during his climate summit. on Wednesday this week. But we have great examples, like the climate promise, like his initiative on early warnings for all, like the work we've done on methane, and like the work we've also done on critical energy transition minerals. So, Mr. President, the United Nations, we welcome your determination to reset the COP31 action agenda around implementation. The first decade of Paris changed the direction. The second decade must change the pace and scale of delivery. We know where we need to go. We have the solutions. Now we must deliver them much faster, much fairer, much further, and for everyone. There is no time to lose. I thank you.

Thank you very much, Sevin. So together here, we are putting forward a very good piece of work. Indeed, one of the important actors of that work is on the left-hand side of me, Mr. Steele. Now I would like to give the floor to him for his opening remarks, and he will describe the process we have achieved and UN's contributions. I think he will talk about all these. So I would like to, of course, wholeheartedly thank him before you all here for his contributions to this process and for his support to this process. Yes, please, Mr. Steele.

Thank you, Marat. Excellencies, colleagues, friends, it's a pleasure to join you for the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. The need is clearer than ever. Global energy markets are in turmoil, showing the price of fossil fuel dependency. Climate disasters are escalating, not least as El Nino supercharges extremes. Both are piling pressure on people and livelihoods, hammering health and driving inflation. It is undeniable. The move to clean, resilient economies is essential for national security, economic stability, human health, and affordability. We know the transition is underway when global investment in clean energy is double that of fossil fuels. There's no denying it. But we also know that it must be faster and fairer. That's why the focus of international climate cooperation today is implementation. And the action agenda is a fast lane, key to strengthening the link between negotiated decisions and the real economy, and helping countries to put their national climate plans into practice. This is where key players can organize around common goals, identify barriers, and scale what works. From cities and regions to business and investors, governments, civil society and more. I commend Turkey for its vision, its focus and vision on the action agenda, working closely with Australia and building on the work of the Brazilian COP30 presidency. You have set clear priorities to advance key issues. Zero waste, food security, resilient cities, green industrialization, youth participation, health and education, and electrification, with a target for electricity to reach 35% of global energy use by 2035. This would mean rewiring the global economy to make it more modern, more efficient, and more stable, bringing down prices as super-efficient electro tech comes online, cleaning our air, boosting health. That includes AI, but it's a double-edged sword. We need to blunt its dangerous edges, sharpen its catalytic potential, and put it to work. The presidency's AI push for COP31 announced today will provide important opportunities for industry and policy leaders to step up. I urge industry, finance, government, and civil society to look at how you can get involved this year. Find the opportunities and turn targets into pipelines, pipelines into bankable projects, and bankable projects into growth, security and resilience, so that COP31 delivers results. Let's use the weeks ahead to build momentum and arrive in Antalya ready to demonstrate what we can achieve together. I thank.

You. Thank you very much. Simon Steel for sharing your insights and experience with us. Now I want to invite you to watch a short movie that we have prepared as COP31 Presidency.

The world is changing. rhythm of the seasons is being disrupted. Waters are receding and cities are confronting new threats. The climate crisis is no longer a distant prospect. It is a reality of our time and the greatest challenge to our shared future. Because the world is our common home and the future of this common home can only be safeguarded through our collective resolve. Turkiye is demonstrating strong resolve in this struggle. The 2053 net-zero emissions target announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, together with investments in renewable energy and climate policies, is giving direction to this resolve. Meanwhile, The zero waste movement, under the leadership of First Lady Emine Erdogan, is carrying this environmental vision from Turkey to the world. Now, with COP31, this experience and accumulated progress are entering a new phase. From Asia to Europe, from the Americas to the Pacific, we have presented our vision for COP31. We have engaged with countries, international organizations, the business community, scientists, and civil society to discuss our shared climate agenda. Because a strong COP does not begin on the day the conference opens. Dialogue begins long before. In Hatay, at the Climate Resilient Cities Summit, we discussed the cities of the future. In Istanbul, at the Climate Finance Summit, we focused on financing the transformation. In Trabzon, through the Blue Dialogue, we addressed the seas, water, and the blue economy. Ahead of COP31, we have begun bringing different voices together around the same table, and the process continues. New connections are being forged and partnerships are growing. Different ideas are converging on a shared path towards Antalya. In Antalya, we are building the Blue Zone, which will become the heart of global climate diplomacy. Here, countries and international organizations will help shape decisions concerning the future of our planet. Alongside it, we are creating a Green Zone, A vibrant space for participation, exchange and action. A space for participation that brings together young people, women, scientists, the private sector and civil society, while also providing a place for art and technology. Because climate action must resonate not only at the negotiating table, but also in our everyday lives. We want to turn decisions into action, targets into projects, and commitments into measurable results. As we move towards Antalya, our goal is clear: to bring different countries, different needs, and different perspectives together on common ground for a shared future. To broaden dialogue, to strengthen consensus, to accelerate action. Because this process will not begin in Antalya, it has already begun. Now is the time to build even greater collective resolve. COP31. Turkiye. Dialogue. Consensus. Action.

Thank you very much, distinguished ministers, dear participants, dear friends. A while ago, I shared with you the fundamental approach of our COP31 presidency. Now I would like to explain more concretely how this approach will translate into implementation through our COP31 action agenda. We see COP31 as a conference where decisions are translated into implementation. And this is the fundamental approach of our action agenda, moving from targets to implementation. We have built our action agenda around 10 priority themes, 6 global targets, 11 initiatives, and 13 supporting outputs. My colleagues, the deputy ministers, the UN teams have worked very hard and they have observed technology, science and relevant results. And I would like to extend my gratitude to all my colleagues who have contributed. It is our objective to bring all these elements together within a comprehensive implementation architecture that delivers concrete results. Therefore, we have designed our action agenda not as a list of events, but as a comprehensive implementation framework that will turn targets into concrete results. And since COP30, since the presidency of my dear friend Andre, we have conducted a comprehensive consultation process. and we have been running Troika along with our colleagues from Azerbaijan. The president of negotiations, Yalchin Bay, is also with us, and we have always our best to reflect this understanding of cooperation on COP31 and we have brought together countries, international organizations, for example we are working with UNDP around some projects or we have strategic cooperation with international energy institution and we have a strategic cooperation with OECD. We were there last week. are going to use the data that they have. So we also gathered with the financial institutions, multilateral parties are highly important because we would like to improve access to finance. And also, TOP is the representative of the private industry and they actually work together to reflect this private industry understanding on COP31. And after New York, we will be in Fiji for the pre-COP. And we will be discussing about the problems of the small state islands and with our Australian colleagues and we will now talk about the details of COP31 Action agenda. This agenda is not merely a list of targets. It's an expression of our vision to translate climate commitments into concrete, measurable, and investable actions, bankable actions. We are positioning COP31 as an implementation COP. And through our action agenda, we seek to translate climate targets into measurable, implementable, and bankable actions. And we have identified 10 priority themes from energy to industry, from cities to food, from oceans to health. We address these themes as complementary components of a whole. And we see these themes as complementary elements of the climate and development transformation. And We decided that we should turn the action agenda into targets and with a 2035 perspective, we have put forward six global targets to guide implementation in line with the net zero targets identified by the world. And it will overlap all the decisions made in the COPs so far. Our first target is to increase the share of electricity in final energy consumption to 35%. Also, another target is to reduce by at least half the projected increase in municipal waste generation. The president of UCLG and my dear friend, Uur Ibrahim Altay, is the one that I am working with. He's the president of UCLG, and we are listening to the local governments of the world. And we have set a target to decrease the projected increase in municipal waste generation by 50%. And also, another target is to reduce energy and intensity in buildings by at least 25%. Another target is to increase the global circular material reuse rate to at least 15%. So this is again a target for circularity. And we complement these targets with the objectives of climate action, education for all, and scaling up of REACH by 2035. We project that the targets we have announced have the potential to reduce the global emissions by 8.5 to 10 gigatons of CO2 by 2035. This is a very remarkable number indeed. If we can put all these practices into actions, then we will have assured this amount of reduction in the global emission. And we see these targets not as new obligations, but as a common call to accelerate global implementation. And this table presents the action agenda as a whole. And we support our 2035 targets through the initiatives, mechanisms, commitments, and partnerships that will deliver them. In short, with the COP31 action agenda, we are creating an implementation architecture that turns targets into action and action into concrete results. We aim to increase the share of the electricity and final energy consumption to 35% by 2035. And through the COP31 global electrification initiative, we will accelerate the electrification at the global level. Through the Global Green Freight Corridors Initiative, we will support the development of green and resilient international freight corridors. And regarding zero phased. of this project was first initiated by our First Lady, Her Excellency, Emine Erdogan, and it has grown up so quickly. And with this understanding, we aim to reduce by at least half the projected increase in municipal waste generation by 2035. And through the Istanbul platform, we will scale up zero waste and circular economy practices And the methane high level dialogue, this is again very important to us, we will support efforts to overcome barriers to reducing methane emissions in the waste sector. and green industrialization, we actually see the climate change efforts as an opportunity because the world is undergoing a transformation and we would like to seize actually this opportunity. We would like to help the least developed countries industrialize this way and also for the developing countries, we want them to have green industrialization and we would like to increase the global circular material use rate to at least 15% by the year 2035. Through the Antalya Green Industrialization Accord, we will accelerate implementation and investment in the decarbonization of industry and through LDC with, we will connect project opportunities in least developed countries with technology and finance, because least developed countries represent 14% of the world population, while they represent only 1% of the gross national products. And we don't want to further increase this gap. We would like to accelerate implementation and we want to make sure that their industrial investments are made in a green way. And this circularity knowledge sharing network will support the scaling up of good practices And also we will have 2026 Antalya Artificial Intelligence Pledge and we will promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence for clean technologies. This is again very important. We have to use AI for reasonable efforts and we have to make sure that the use and scope of AI is very important in this regard. And climate resilient cities, by the year 2035, we would like to reduce the energy intensity in the buildings by 25%. For example, Turkey underwent an earthquake in the year 2023, which we call this disaster of the century. And This earthquake killed 53,000 people. And under the leadership of His Excellency, Mr. President Erdogan, we started the reconstruction. And in just two years, we constructed 455,000 apartments and delivered to the right owners. They are all climate-resilient buildings with the zero-waste practice. and the current energy use intensity was decreased by 39% as compared to the past. So we would like to expand and share our experience with the rest of the world. So another target is to reduce energy and intensity in the buildings by 25% by 2035. And through SURF, we will transform climate commitments into investment ready urban projects. And through the Antalya Energy Efficient Buildings Accord, we will accelerate the transition to energy efficient and resilient buildings. Through the International Sustainable Buildings Competition, we will promote innovative good practices. Also, we will have the high-level dialogue on smart, resilient, and sustainable cities, and we will support the use of digital technologies for climate action in cities. Another important thing that we're working on along with UNDP, and I have discussed this with the president of UNDP an hour ago, I want to thank him. With BRIDGE, we aim to transform countries' climate and development priorities into investment-ready project portfolios and match them with the appropriate financing. And through the Istanbul Declaration, we will strengthen international cooperation and political support for BRIDGE. Youth and education, this is also very important. because we have to raise awareness. Probably only 10% of the people are aware of these issues. Therefore, raising the awareness is as important as the financing and implementation. Our target is to provide this education to everyone and we will have Antalya high level dialogue on children youth and climate resilience and we aim to translate climate commitments into child and youth responsive policies financing and implementation and to strengthen the participation of young people in decision-making processes another headline is oceans and seas Through the Regional and International Ocean Cooperation Initiative, we will strengthen the climate resilience of marine and coastal areas. We held this meeting in Trabzon and through the Marine Litter Action Platform, we will bring together needs, goods, practices. and financing. And through the high-level dialogue on Antarctic messages, we will strengthen Antarctica's role in climate research. And through Trabzon Call for Action, we will support joint action for the protection of oceans and climate resilience. Another headline is food security. And through the Turquoise Nexus Initiative, We will bring together food systems governance and climate commitments within a country-led common framework. Our aim is to strengthen the policy coherence, investment readiness and access to finance, real synergies. Climate change, biodiversity and land degradation are interconnected challenges and through the High-Level Dialogue on Rio Conventions, we aim to strengthen synergies among the three Rio Conventions and support more coordinated implementation at the national level. And dynamic and resilient health systems, we need more resilient health systems to address the impacts of climate change on human health. And through the Antalya Health Resilience Initiative, we will bring together knowledge, country experiences, technical expertise, financing, and innovative solutions within a common framework. Our aim is to accelerate the country's transition from planning to implementation. Dear participants, the objective of our COP31 action agenda is clear, to translate our common targets into concrete implementation. And I invite you all to become active partners in this process. Let us move forward through dialogue. Let us strengthen our efforts through consensus. And let us achieve results through action. Let's do this all together. It is high time we start working together. And we have to undertake this challenge with a greater determination now. I often say the NATO countries decided to increase their defense related expenditures by 5%, but if you don't have a country to live in, then your expenditures of defense do not really matter. So we have to work together for a more livable world, and we have to further improve our determination to tackle with the climate change. invite you all to showcase your determination in Antalya and to achieve results all together thank you all very much for your kind contributions.

Dear participants, we have completed our presentation here. Now we will be more than happy to hear your views and suggestions. I believe that the contributions of yours will be very guiding for us. If you allow me, the very first speaker will be the presidency of negotiations and our Australian friends. that we are working together. So Australian Assistant Deputy Minister, Ms. Kushla Munro is here. So we are listening to you, Ms. Kushla Munro.

Minister Karum, it is a great privilege to be here today as the representative of the President of Negotiations for COP31. We've always said from the very beginning that the action agenda must be connected and linked intimately with the negotiations. And I want to thank Te Kia and Minister Kuru for their leadership and for outlining the action agenda for us all to hear about today. We all know that the best tool to combat climate change is collective action grounded in multilateralism. And again, Minister Karum, you have set out clear aspirations, in particular across the whole agenda, but I must say at Bonn, very clear about the goal for electrification and the global momentum which is growing and growing for good reason. improving energy security and economic resilience while lowering energy costs, improving productivity and strengthening industrial competitiveness is absolutely critical at this time. And we know we need to accelerate actions and put us on a clear path, not just to COP31, but beyond. That will take political will and finance. One of the areas which you called out clearly is the importance of that bridge, the climate implementation bridge. Another area of focus will be access to finance, again, so important for small island developing countries and LDCs. We must ensure that finance flows are faster to the countries that need it. We need to cut lengthy application processes, mobilise private sector investment, and support locally led projects. Australia is also very proud to be partnering with the Pacific, and I understand we'll hear directly from the Pacific envoys for oceans and access to finance later in this session. Friends, we're here because we know we must accelerate action. And part of this is through a very well articulated action agenda. But more importantly, it is about the people, the partnerships that will see us through. So we appreciate Turkey's blueprint to accelerate climate implementation globally. And we look forward to working with all of you and of course, with Turkey for a very successful COP31. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Kushla. So together we'll be successful. And now, so one of the most important organizations who can talk about the situation of the world, the best world meteorological organization, we talked to them last week. So the point that we achieved today shows the current problems that we are facing. Now I would like to give the floor to Secretary General Celeste Sawa.

Thank you very much, Minister Korum, for the comprehensive overview of the implementation COP. Last week, as you already mentioned, we were fortunate to host the Minister in WMO in Geneva. Minister, you spoke of the need to bring science more closely into the decisions we make and the action we take. Three weeks ago, WMO issued an unprecedented El Nino forecast. There is near 100% certainty that a very strong event will proceed through COP31 and into February 2027. El Nino is unfolding against an already fragile backdrop and will hit hardest where communities, infrastructure, and essential services are most vulnerable. And it comes at the time of unprecedented warming in our planet. Excellencies, the science is very clear. The last two months have been the hottest on record. Sea surface temperatures are the highest we have ever observed. We have lived through the warmest decade since the Paris Agreement was signed. At the same time, the global water cycle is becoming more erratic. Groundwater, terrestrial water storage, glaciers, all are under threat. We are all shocked by what's happening in Nepal and China. We are seeing more water-related disasters and increasingly complex, compounding, and cascading events. So I share with you one simple message at this briefing. COP31 must deliver on early warnings and on resilience, as well on implementation. The WMO community provides the building blocks through trusted observations, authoritative data and services that support national commitments and collective action. We provide the science. We are fully aligned with the Presidency's call for a science-based, evidence-driven and implementation-focused action agenda. The WMO State of the Global Climate Update, prepared specifically for COP31, aims to inform the Presidency and negotiations. The 2026 update will cast a spotlight on the key climate indicators in this yet again extraordinary year. Excellencies and distinguished guests, the Presidency has set out a strong vision, moving from commitments to investment and to measurable results. Science connects each stage of this journey. The Early Warnings for All initiative championed by WMO shows that this means in practice, when reliable data leads to early action, we protect lives and economies. Climate science is equally essential for national adaptation plans and national determined contributions. I therefore welcome the President's focus on connecting the climate implementation bridge with finance ready investment portfolios. This is where WMO and our members can make practical contributions through climate information to identify risks, shape investment needs, and build more resilient societies. But let me also remind you that this requires strong national meteorological and hydrological services. They are strategic national assets providing data, observation, forecast, warnings, and climate services needed to support effective national adaptation and investment. As we move into the second decade of the Paris Agreement, trust will not be rebuilt by ambition alone. It will be rebuilt by every single verified fact, by every timely warning system, by each shared data set. That is WMO commitment. Minister Kurum, I look forward to working with you and your team to advance dialogue, build consensus, and deliver action on the road Antalya. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Ms. List. Last week we were together and also we were together with the IFRC last week. As you know, the latest flood happened in Nepal recently. So there was a big disaster in Nepal. And there he told us a story and I would like to talk about it very shortly here. So a school principal Nepal. So 13 minutes before the disaster, he was able to save 900 kids from his school. And after 13 minutes, that school was destroyed. And 13 children were saved by him. So now here we are together with World Meteorological Organization and together with IFRC and WMO. early warning for all. So we are realizing this under COP 31. This is also as important as all the other things. So a teacher, a school principal, what he did should be done for everyone. We do have this obligation, I think. And again, this is one of our initiatives. And now, you know, the next COP presidency will be transferred by Ethiopia. And on behalf of Ethiopia, federal Democratic Republic Planning and Development Minister Fitsum Assefa is here, so he will have the floor, or she will have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Murat Krum. I would like to extend my best wishes to you, your team, and the government of Turkey. The Action Agenda represents an important opportunity to create a mechanism to promote non-state actor participation in the implementation of all elements of the Paris Agreement. It also will help continue the momentum generated by the parties during COP30 and provide a basis for moving forward to COP31 in Antalya and to COP32 in Addis. We commend the COP 30 presidency for streamlining this agenda by unifying more than 480 initiatives into 117 plans to accelerate solutions across six thematic axes and 30 key objectives. It has given parties and non-parties a clearer framework to engage with. Two key considerations will influence how successful these will be as they begin to take shape. First, these initiatives should facilitate a greater flow of means of implementation towards developing countries based upon their needs and priorities. Once the agenda has moved beyond the launch phase to deliverables phase, I would urge the presidency to make certain that the outputs of the initiative result in a meaningful increase in financial resources, technology, and technical assistance supporting development in developing countries. Additionally, I would expect that the financial flows resulting from this initiative be developed with input from developing countries regarding their identified needs and priorities. Second, I would encourage all stakeholders who participate in the engagement opportunities offered today by both parties and non-parties to clearly define institutional responsibility, establish measurable milestones, and track progress against established matrices. This will allow us to assess whether or not meaningful results were achieved over time. Finally, Ethiopia remains committed to working cooperatively with COP31 presidency and COP31 president of negotiation leading up to COP31 to ensure continued ambition for our collective climate efforts and a seamless transition between COP31 and COP32. I thank you.

Thank you very much. Hopefully, we will be collecting those deliveries, results together. Thank you very much for your speech, Ms. Asefa. And the previous co-president, Andre, my dear friend. He had a great work too in this process. So when he was troubled, in trouble, he was escaping to Amazon there. So we remember those days together. Thank you very much for all the hard work, great work you put forward and for the will you put forward. Now the floor is yours, Mr. Andre.

My dear friend, Murat, it's wonderful to be here with all of you after we worked together so hard in Berlin. And I couldn't be happier by seeing your presentation on the action agenda. I think that as Simon and Selwyn said, we are a series of cops that are building together a process. And as was mentioned here, Paris was extraordinary, and Selwyn gave all the numbers. because the results were very clear. But I want to remember that Dubai brought us the GST, the global stock take, gave us the list of the issues that are still necessary for us to implement to make sure that Paris works. Baku, with our friends from Azerbaijan who worked so hard, and we got the NCQG. Now in Berlin, what we had is that we had the Paris rule book ready. We had already negotiated what we needed to negotiate. And we were facing climate urgency like, unfortunately, every week we see something terrible happening, and all our solidarity with Nepal for the awful situation that they had to go through. But what happened in Belem was that there was a very clear decision by the 194 parties that we had to transition from concentrating on negotiations to concentrate on implementation. And that is why we are so happy to see what you presented to us today. We structured in Belen, we restructured the action agenda on the GST so that it is an instrument of implementation of the GST. What is the great thing about implementation? The big difference with negotiation is that negotiation is by consensus. We need consensus because that's what gives strength to the rules. But when we implement, we don't need consensus. We are implementing, creating amazing coalitions that are presenting results, as you already mentioned, on methane, early warning, forests, carbon markets. So I think that we are really very excited to see that action agenda in Antalya and see all the actors, because in the negotiations, only the countries negotiate, but in the action agenda, subnational government, the NGOs, the business sector, academia, everybody is working together. And they work much faster than diplomats. I said that because I am a diplomat for 45 years. So, my dear friends, thank you, thank you very much for today's presentation. And we wish you all the best for Antalya.

Thank you so much, Andre. And in the troika, we do have Azerbaijan, our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters. They have presided COP 29. Now I would like to give the floor to Deputy Minister Yalcin on behalf of Azerbaijan. So they have the floor. Thank you very much, Mr. Minister, Deputy Ministers, Samit, my brother Samit.

Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda and commend the COP31 Presidency for the discipline and clarity with which it has approached this task. Grounding 10 priority themes in a science-based, evidence-driven methodology and translating them into measurable targets for 2035 is precisely the kind of rigor that moves us from declarations of ambition to instruments of delivery. On this note, we extend our warmest congratulations to COP31 President-designate, Minister Murat Kurum, and his dedicated team for crafting such a visionary and ambitious action agenda. We see a strong collaboration between Turkey and Australia, working as one COP31 presidency team, and look forward to their joint efforts in delivering a successful and meaningful COP31 in Antalya. We highly value the presidency for its determination to build upon the achievements of previous COPs, as well as for the openness, inclusiveness, and continuous dialogue with all parties and stakeholders in shaping this ambitious agenda. These principles also guided our efforts during our presidency. We see the themes highlighted today from electrification and grid infrastructure to climate resilient cities, dynamic and resilient health systems, food security and methane reduction as a shared commitment to translating ambition into delivery. We highly commend COP31's focus on zero waste as a vital mechanism to drive sustainable consumption and curb waste sector emissions. Moving forward, we look forward to supporting efforts that turn waste managements into practical, scalable climate action, and we stand fully ready to partner with our Turkish brothers in this vital endeavor. We commend the focus on methane mitigation and circular economy approaches, which can deliver significant climate, environmental, and economic benefits. We are also delighted to see climate-resilient cities and dynamic and resilient health systems prioritized in COP31 action agenda. These themes, which were among our priorities during COP29, underscore how climate action directly improves community well-being. This vision also guided our efforts to advance our urban development agenda throughout the World Urban Forum in Baku earlier this year. The Climate Implementation Bridge Initiative offers a highly practical framework to align climate goals with economic decision-making, improve access to finance, and accelerate action. We see the Climate Implementation Bridge as a candid diagnosis of where the real bottleneck now lies and how those bottlenecks can be addressed. Finally, we welcome the party-driven and consultative spirit in which this agenda has been developed. We stand ready to support the advancement of the COP31 action agenda and look forward to engaging constructively through the thematic days, the business forum series, and the leaders summit. We reaffirm our commitment to multilateral climate cooperation and to working together with brotherly Turkey towards a successful implementation focused outcome in Antalya. I thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I would like to give the floor to United Arab Emirates Climate Change and Environment Minister. Amma bin Abdullah El Dahak El Shamsi. Hopefully I pronounced it right. I don't know if it was right.

I'm pleased to be here joining you today for the launch of the action agenda of COP31. I would like to extend our appreciation to you, Your Excellency, Minister Murad Karam, and to the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Steele, and to Special Adviser Selwyn Hart, and all those who are bringing us here today to witness the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. The global climate community must increasingly move from negotiation to implementation. This is something that we have been hearing repeatedly from you, Your Excellency, throughout all the engagements that are leading up to COP31. And we've heard as well from all of the COPs presidencies, the previous COP presidencies and the future as well. Our collective progress must be visible on the ground, and whether it is clean energy access or secure water, resilient infrastructure, and economic opportunities for all. This commitment forms a continuous thread connecting our path, as has been outlined by Andrea, from Dubai to Baku to Belem, and now looking forward to Antalya. If I take you a few years ago at COP28, the historic consensus that has well been mentioned today established a clear direction for the global energy transition, including the goals of tripling of renewables by 2030 and also the doubling of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. COP28 have also operationalized the loss and damage fund at the very first day of the COP, and then we look forward, we looked forward to COP29 when a new global climate finance goal has been set. to COP30, reinforcing action on adaptation, just transition, and implementation. And these milestones are all have led to helping build a very strong foundation for stronger climate action. And the task before COP31 is to build on these foundations and accelerate delivery. And this moves us beyond commitments to practical action that has been reinforced by what you have mentioned, Your Excellency, and the launch of the action agenda that we have seen today, mobilizing investment and scaling proven solutions, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring that the climate action delivers tangible benefits for people and communities. COP31 action agenda launched today provides an important framework for this delivery, with priorities ranging from the clean energy transition, electrification, climate resiliency, zero waste, to safeguarding our oceans and seas. Advancing these priorities through practical and scalable solutions will be critical. And this brings us to one of our most essential resources, water. Today, 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water. And this December, the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, co-hosted by the UAE with Senegal, will bring the international community together to accelerate implementation on SDG 6 and advance practical solutions for water security. I mention this because we should not treat any UN tool or convention or organization or conference in isolation of one another. Everything has to be synergized, not only the Rio Conventions, but every instrument, every tool that will allow us to bring the sustainable development to realization faster. We want the UN Water Conference, as Your Excellency have mentioned, COP31 looking on to innovations and mobilization of funding. We want also the UN Water Conference to be a tool for mobilizing partnerships, investment, innovations, and to secure solutions that strengthen water resilience, protect ecosystems, and prove water access for communities around the world. And that brings the conversations between water, climate, and every other challenge that's facing humanity closer together by streamlining those tools and instruments. As we look forward to Antalya, the UAE stands fully committed to working with Turkey, the UNFCCC, and all partners to advance COP31 action agenda and turn our shared ambition into real world action. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Minister. Now I would like to give the floor to Fiji Information, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Linda Tabua. As you know, PRECOP will take place in Fiji, and they will be representing island states there. Yes, please, ma'am.

Excellency, Honourable Minister and Chair, It's actually finally good to see you in person, as you have been appearing in many meetings across the Pacific via video. So good to meet you and know that you are real and you're here. Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, of course, co-chair, lead in negotiations, Australia. Ladies and gentlemen, to you all from the blue Pacific continent. I'm honored to join in this launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. Fiji welcomes the emphasis of the Action Agenda on implementation, practical delivery, continuity, and inclusive partnerships. This will also be highlighted at the pre-COP meeting we are hosting in October ahead of COP31, and you are all welcome to attend. The outcomes of SB64 remind us of the complexities within the multilateral climate process. However, while negotiations continue, the impacts of climate change continue to be experienced on the ground. Fiji recognizes that strengthening implementation will require greater attention to both adaptation finance and finance to address loss and damage. For climate-vulnerable countries such as Fiji, Access to timely, adequate, predictable, and accessible finance remain essential to translating climate ambition into meaningful outcomes for our communities. We also recognize the need for constructive dialogue on the barriers that continue to affect the delivery and accessibility of climate finance, particularly for small island developing states. Given these ongoing challenges, We acknowledge the COP31 Presidency's development of the Climate Implementation Bridge Initiative to help bridge the gap between global ambition and practical implementation, including through stronger cooperation, capacity building, technology, finance and partnerships. Fiji remains open to collaboration with the COP31 Presidency development partners, financial institutions and other stakeholders to identify practical solutions to these barriers and to strengthen the delivery of finance where it is most needed. As the action agenda develops, Fiji also sees value in clear mechanisms for follow-up, transparency and accountability. It will be important to understand how proposed initiatives and partnerships will be supported monitored and followed through beyond the launch and beyond COP31. We also encourage the Action Agenda to complement existing UNFCCC processes and national climate frameworks rather than creating additional processes that may place further demands on countries with limited institutional capacity. Fiji welcomes the opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback and identify implementation gaps, and we stand ready to contribute constructively to this process. Most of all, I look forward to visiting your beautiful country of Turkey for the first time, inshallah. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We will visit Fiji. Now I want to give the floor to Mohammad Hoang Sep, the Minister of Finance and Incomes.

Excellency Barad Korum, Excellencies, distinguished delegates. Pakistan commends the COP31 presidency for the section agenda, and we see the 10 priority themes, as you have just described in detail, as being directly relevant to Pakistan's own national priorities across the board, given the fact that our country is ranked fifth on the vulnerability board. I'll just focus on some of the specific targets outlined in the action agenda. First, on clean energy and electrification, the target of raising electricity share of final energy demand to 35% by 2035 aligns closely with Pakistan's NDC 3.0, which targets renewable and clean energy sources reaching 62% and 69% of our planned generation capacity mix by 2035. The reality is the solar revolution in Pakistan already supports our direction of travel. Second, zero waste is another area of strong alignment. On this topic, Excellency, it would be remiss of me not to express appreciation for the sustained leadership shown by the distinguished First Lady of Turkey, Her Excellency Emeine Erdogan, to elevate this agenda internationally. Third, building sector energy intensity is a further priority. And on climate-resilient cities, Pakistan's National Adaptation Plan places urban resilience among its core priorities. Fourth, climate awareness across society is equally important to us, and our national adaptation plan commits to embedding climate curricula not only in schools, but all the way into the public-private partnerships. Fifth, the agenda's attention to food security and oceans is likewise welcome. Agriculture is named in our NDC as a key sector for adaptation. Above all, The climate implementation bridge deserves particular emphasis as an essential mechanism to help countries like Pakistan turn NDC priorities into investable, bankable projects. As correctly identified by you, President-designate, the issue is not one of plans, it is all about implementation. We need to operationalize what has already been committed. In closing, let me simply state the way you have described the action points and the KPIs, and because of that, this agenda is impact result oriented, you have our full support for this agenda, Excellency. I thank you.

I would like to congratulate my brothers from Pakistan because they are also making commitments in this regard. I visited Pakistan in the aftermath of a flood and almost a city was completely flooded. the production and the entire life were affected and I can tell you that they didn't have a dry land to put up tents in the aftermath of the flood everywhere was flooded with water and this is why it was one of the countries that was the most severely affected now I would like to give the floor to Sekiya Takeshi from Japan

Thank you, Chair. Mr. Krum, the President-designate of COP31. And thank you for giving me the floor on this important occasion, marking the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. Japan welcomes the launch of the Action Agenda and look forward to working closely with Tukea as COP31 Presidency and work closely working with the international community in the lead up to the COP 31. One of the key issues highlighted in the actual agenda is zero waste. Japan is ready to contribute in implementing this agenda item through sharing our extensive experience and advanced technology in this field. For example, Through sustained efforts to reduce food loss and waste, Japan has achieved 50% reduction compared with the year 2000 level. Second, approximately 90% of PET bottles sold in Japan are collected and 40% of them are recycled back into new PET bottles through bottle-to-bottle recycling. Japan also developed waste-to-energy technologies that recover energy from waste that cannot be otherwise recycled. Waste-to-energy contributes to reducing methane emissions by eliminating open dumping and direct land filling, while at the same time generating clean energy through the use of heat from incinerations. My second point is electrification. Promoting electrification together with the decarbonization of power sources is one of the important means of achieving the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree goal. Japan intends to contribute in improving global energy efficiency and increasing electrification through heat pump technologies such as highly energy efficient air conditioners as well as power grid technologies. With regard to the target of raising the electrification rate to 35% by 2035, we should recognize countries face differing geopolitical and economic circumstances. Each country should be able to pursue the approach that is most appropriate to its own situation in achieving this objective. The recognition of such various pathways is essential for ensuring broader support for this initiative. Again, Japan looks forward to working closely with your Excellency, Turkey, and with the international community in the lead up to COP31. I thank you.

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Minister. There are other people and countries who would like to take the floor as well. Please keep your intervention limited to two minutes. Now, I would like to give the floor to Abu Mamba from Ivory Coast.

Is he here?

I think he's not here.

Sierra Leone's Environment Minister

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Sierra Leone welcomes the COP31 action agenda and its focus on moving from ambition to implementation. We particularly welcome the emphasis on practical cooperation, partnerships, finance, knowledge exchange, and delivery. For Sierra Leone and other vulnerable LDCs, implementation is where the real test of our climate commitments lie. Our countries have developed national climate priorities and made commitments under the Paris Agreement, but the ability to translate these commitments into tangible outcomes remains constrained by limited access to implementation support, finance, technology, and technical capacity. Sierra Leone is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, erratic rainfall, flooding, landslides, windstorms, and risks to our coastal communities. For us and countries like ours, implementation means ensuring that climate action reaches farmers, coastal communities, women, young people, and other vulnerable groups who are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. As the COP31 action agenda moves towards practical delivery, we believe that the priorities and circumstances of vulnerable countries must remain central. implementation to result in greater access to predictable and accessible climate finance, strengthening technical capacity, technology transfer, and partnerships that support us in developing and implementing nationally owned solutions enshrined in our NDCs and NAPs. We also encourage the action agenda to strengthen connection between climate priorities and investment. Countries such as Sierra Leone have significant climate-related investment needs, but require stronger partnerships to translate national priorities into viable programs and projects that can attract financing and deliver measurable development and resilient outcomes for our people and our ecosystems. Our message is simple. The success of the action agenda should ultimately be measured by what it delivers on the ground, particularly for countries and communities most vulnerable to climate change. As we move towards Antalya, Sierra Leone encourages an action agenda that is inclusive, country-driven, and focused on implementation, with special circumstances for LDCs and SIDS to deliver meaningful climate action. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Executive Director, Anna Claudia Rosva will have the floor. Again, she is one of our important stakeholders in COP process. Yes, please.

President, Minister Murat Kurum, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I really thank the COP31 presidency of Turkey for convening this launch, and I congratulate the presidency team for the vision behind the Action Agenda and for placing implementation at the heart of the road to Antalya. UN-Habitat particularly welcomes the recognition of climate resilient and sustainable cities as one of the priority areas of COP31 action agenda, supported by concrete targets for buildings and electrification. This matters because cities are not simply where impacts of climate change are being felt. Cities are where climate action must be delivered. They are where decisions about housing, buildings, transport, energy, land, and infrastructure ultimately determine whether national climate commitments translate into improvements in people's lives. And the evidence is increasingly reflecting this. UN-Habitat's analysis of 142 NDCs 3.0 shows that 80% now contain well-developed urban content, compared to 49% in the previous generation. This work was presented and discussed during the WUF 13 in Baku. This is significant progress, but there is also an important implementation gap. only 19% include commitments on urban climate finance. So our challenge is no longer simply to make cities more visible in national climate commitments, it is to ensure that cities and local governments have the policy frameworks, capacities and financing needed to deliver them. As we have emphasized throughout this year, the housing and climate crisis are deeply interconnected. Resilient housing, more efficient buildings, access to clean energy, and the upgrading of informal settlements can simultaneously advance adaptation, mitigation, and social inclusion. We welcome the continuity, the collaboration between Brazil and Turkey, together with the climate high-level champions and the Marrakesh Partnership to carry forward the global climate action agenda from Berlin to Antalya. UN-HABITAT will continue contributing to this effort, particularly under the axis of resilient cities, infrastructure, and water. And on 12th November in Antalya, together with the COP31 presidency, CCC and high-level climate champions, we will convene COP31 Resilient Cities Day. Through discussions on science, housing, electrification, and the Rio Conventions, culminating with the fifth ministerial on urbanization and climate change, we want to help translate this action agenda into concrete pathways for implementation, connecting national ambition with local action, investment and delivery. Because implementation ultimately happens in places. And if we want the Paris Agreement to deliver for people, we must enable cities and communities to deliver. UN-Habitat looks forward to working with Turkey, the COP31 presidency and all of you you on the road to Antalya. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ana Claudia. Very frankly, sincerely, she is involved in this process as she was before in the other efforts. Hopefully, inshallah, all together, we will be collecting those results. Now, International Renewable Energy Agency for electrification targets. They are a very important stakeholder. Irina, Francesco La Camera will have the floor. Yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thanks for having Irina be part of this important discussion. My first comment is that we are truly impressed by your presentation on the action agenda. I think this is a very solid foundation for our work towards Antalya and respect the consultation that we have had along this path. Let me just say that we as ARENA, in the context of our mandate, We are ready to collaborate and to sustain your work on all the pillar that you have listed to us today. But let me spend some words on the electrification. This is also a very good example of the collaboration among the presidency of the COP. You know there has been Ambassador de Lago asking ARENA to come up with the technical work on transition from fossil fuel, we prepare our report. In the context of that report, there was a clear attention to electrification. So what's happening? It's happening that energy efficiency is not moving fast as we were thinking in Abu Dhabi. So we are very far from the doubling of the energy efficiency. From the other side, we have been very good progress in mitigation, so more renewables have been added, capacity has been added, but in the same time, the demand of energy has been rising faster than we expected. So what will happen is that also the triple of renewable energy in 2030 could be not enough to keep the ship on a path that is consistent with the achievement of the Paris Agreement goal. And on this come this electrification attention because the target of 35 to 35 is already taking into account of all of this. So it's the efforts that should be done to be able to put again the ship on a path that is consistent with the Paris Agreement. So in my point of view, naturally it's important to have the electrification target in the action agenda, but it could be also important to have an attention to that. I will not call as a target, is the action to be taken to be consistent with achieving the Paris Agreement, also in the negotiation. I think that could be a result that could make that COP in some way reaching a significance as the COP of the stocktake, so the COP28, and remain in the years to the future to make a clear understanding of where we have to go. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you very much, Francesco. On behalf of OECD, Environment Director Prince Jaime de Yes, please, His Excellency.

And indeed, if we listen to everybody, we see that there's a global challenge and that feels a bit overwhelming sometimes. But just to give you the atmosphere when I entered this room, it was one of optimism, of enthusiasm. And it is a sense of family, Minister. So you'll see that everybody is hugging each other and knowing each other, and those are going together to support you on delivery. So I truly feel that there's a sense of we can do this, and we will do this, and we have no other choice than doing this. Ladies and gentlemen, last week, Minister Kurum visited the OECD, this Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and it's the first time that a president-designate visited the council and visited the OECD. and we signed the strategic partnership on the action agenda. And the OECD has trusted data and economic policy, and you all know us from tracking climate finance, and we advise on economic and financial pathways from a challenge towards a solution. And we need globally to have whole of government and all of economy solutions. And please see the OECD as your partner for all of you on the action agenda, on the implementation bridge on the green industrialization, on clean energy transition, and the zero waste and circular economy. And Andre already said it, it's the UAE, it's the Azrajan, Brazil, all built together a process, and I would see it as a train station. What we now need, Minister, is the tracks so the train can leave the station. I think that's what we're going to build at COP31. You have full support. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Now I would like to give the floor to UNDP that we are working on the implementation mechanism together. Deputy Secretary General and UNDP Director, Marcos Neto, will have the floor. Yes, please.

Deputy Minister Fatima Varang, it's a pleasure to be here, excellent colleagues. Let me congratulate COP31st President of Turkey for placing implementation, continuity, and partnership at the heart of its actual agenda. 10 years after the Paris Agreement, countries are presenting stronger and more implementation-focused climate plans. Yet, the defining challenge is to translate these commitments into investment, resilient, decent jobs, and better development outcomes. UNDP latest NDC insights Analysis demonstrate that both progress and urgency. Among developing countries, 71% of new NDCs specify overall costs and 80% provide clear signals for investment. However, many countries still need support to convert priorities into finance-ready programs and pipelines. Adaptation is also moving to the central of national ambition. Nearly 90% of developing countries have strengthened adaptation in their new NDCs, while more than 80% connect them with the national adaptation plans. More than 90% of new NDCs now incorporate just transition, compared with only 38% in the previous generation. This reflects a growing recognition that climate action must create decent work, build skills, strengthen social protection, and distribute benefits fairly. This is why the Climate Implementation Bridge, being developed under the leadership of the COP31 presidents with support from Australia, is so timely. Bridge is intended to help countries connect NDCs and NAPs with development planning, public and private finance, investable pipelines, and implementation of partners. At the president's invitation, UNDP is extremely humble and proud that we are serving as the strategic delivering partner. leveraging implementation infrastructure of the UN climate promise and working across the UN system and the wider financial ecosystem. Together, we can make the next decade of the Paris Agreement the decade of implementation, investment, inclusion at scale. UNDP stands ready to support Turkey and Australia and the COP31. See you all in Antalya. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, NATO. Now I want to give the floor to Cava Zahidev.

Thank you very much, Minister Kurum. Excellencies, colleagues, difference. I, of course, joined the distinguished colleagues in congratulating the COP 31 presidency of Turkey on the launch of its action agenda. and there really could hardly be a clearer case for action than what we see today. When climate shocks strike, food and agriculture are often the first point of impact. Losses in crops and livestock, higher food prices, lost income, growing hunger. These shocks are often magnified by other crises, especially this year with the strong El Nino. This is why the Turquoise Nexus Initiative by the COP31 presidency is so important for facing the climate reality of today, investing in resilient agri-food systems that can withstand future shocks. The Turquoise Nexus Initiative bridges the gaps between food systems, water resource management and climate policy, and from there it helps develop investment-ready solutions particularly for semi-arid, drought-prone and water-stressed regions. We very much value the trust of the Turkish Presidency in FAO to co-design and carry the initiative forward through the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation, or FAST, partnership. Through this FAST partnership, launched during the Egyptian COP Presidency, FAO has worked closely with COP presidencies to carry their priorities beyond a single COP and provide a platform for continuing delivery. The most recent example is RAIS, the Resilient Agriculture Investment for Net Zero Land Degradation Initiative, launched under the Brazilian COP30 presidency, and before that, HARMONIA, under the Azerbaijan presidency of COP29. We have the track record, and we're excited to look forward to working with you towards, during, and after COP31. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Now I would like to give the floor to Climate Director Jamie Ferguson on behalf of World Bank. The floor is yours, Jamie.

Thank you, President-designate, ministers, excellencies, colleagues, and friends. The World Bank Group welcomes the COP31 Action Agenda from Ambition to Implementation, which could not be more timely and aligns with where the World Bank Group is focused, implementation and impact. We also welcome the consultative approach you've taken to develop it. The world has made important progress in setting climate ambitions. The harder, more consequential work is now turning those commitments into investment, policy change and results on the ground. Implementation matters because climate shocks directly undermine development. When extreme heat makes a classroom too hot to learn, children fall behind. When a flood damages a road, businesses lose access to market. The stakes are high. Without action, 260 million jobs could be lost by 2050 through climate impacts on worker health, productivity, education and infrastructure. Targeted adaptation, by contrast, could protect or generate around 150 million jobs. Implementation needs to start with the realities and priorities of each country. Climate policy cannot sit separately from decisions on energy, industry, agriculture, water, transport, cities, or public finance. Our job is to help governments identify policies, investments, and finance that can advance climate and development together. Over the past six years, the World Bank Group has delivered $238 billion in development finance with climate benefits. But our own capital is not enough and must be judged by its catalytic impact. Over the past four years, the private capital mobilized by the World Bank Group has more than tripled, reaching a record 112 billion in FY26. And that is still not enough. The World Bank Group is looking beyond the dollars committed to the outcomes achieved. Development outcomes of jobs, energy access, water security, and food security, and climate outcomes of people made more resilient and net greenhouse gas reductions. Climate implementation must strengthen resilience as well as reduce emissions. Adaptation is not a cost, but an investment in economic stability and future growth. No institution can deliver this agenda alone. The strength of the COP31 action agenda will depend on bringing governments, development banks, investors, businesses, and other partners together around practical areas of cooperation. For the World Bank Group, partnership means bringing finance, knowledge, policy advice, and private sector expertise together. It also means long-term engagement with our clients, helping countries and private companies move from priorities to programs to projects and ultimately results. If COP31 is to leave one lasting message, it should be that climate ambition and development are not separate agendas. The task now is to connect commitments with investment and investment with impact that improves lives and strengthens economies. The World Bank Group stands ready to work with the COP31 presidency, all the parties, and the private sector to deliver climate-smart development results on the ground. Thank you very much.

Yes, financing is very important in order to be able to undertake such jobs and for access to funding, World Bank, the EBRD, AFD, are very important. AIIB also should be supporting us. Now I would like to give the floor to Gianpiero Nacci on behalf of EBRD.

Thank you very much for this invitation. On behalf of the MDBs, as EBRD is co-chairing the MDBs Climate Action Working Group, I would like to congratulate you and your team for this comprehensive and very ambitious climate action agenda. In particular, we welcome the focus on implementation. That's what we do. We'll come to Antalya with a strong climate finance delivery. but also ready to support our clients and country operation to address their needs and ambition. We'll do this with a strong focus on the implementation mechanisms, the products, the initiatives, the programs that leverage our finance to maximize impact and scale up private capital mobilization, but also through a strong focus on the market enablers, the tools, the methodologies, the policy support, that reduce transaction costs, improve access to finance, and reduce the timing for financial decisions, including for scaling up climate ambition. So, sorry, climate adaptation finance. So count on us, on our support and contribution. Now, briefly, in respect to the BRD, green transition is at the core of our mandate because of the strong correlation to economic growth, resilience, and competitiveness. and green finance represents almost 60% of our annual finance. We welcome the climate action agenda, particularly the focus on resilient cities and building renovation, the focus on electrification and green industrialization. And I'd like to bring emphasis on the role of country platforms like the flagship Turkish industrial decarbonization investment platform that we support since its inception. You asked about suggestions and contribution. We would like to emphasize the role of private sector. So we'd like to expect to give as much emphasis to private sector initiatives, to the voice of entrepreneurs and investors. And in this respect, we welcome the strong emphasis of the Business Forum during the first week on involving the business leaders. With this, I thank you very much.

Well, thank you very much. Now I would like to give the floor to the Director of United Nations Environment Programme, Martin Krahse. The floor is yours.

Mr. President, Excellencies, colleagues, as overshoot of 1.5 is likely within a decade, our focus must be on rapid emission reductions, action on methane, accelerated electrification, stronger resilience, and investment at scale. Net zero remains an essential milestone, but success will depend on our ability to turn national commitments into projects, financing, and action on the ground. And this is why UNEP supports the Action Agenda and the Climate Implementation Bridge. Its value lies in helping countries move from targets to delivery by identifying priorities, developing investment pipelines, designing financing solutions, and connecting them with institutions that can deliver at scale. UNEP is helping cities tackle one of the most immediate climate threats, extreme heat. Through the Cool Coalition and the Beat the Heat Implementation Drive, UNEP is working with cities, including Gaziantep, Balikesir and Antalya, to move from awareness to implementation through heat action planning, risk assessments and sustainable cooling solutions. In the building sector, UNEP is leading global efforts to accelerate near zero emissions and resilient buildings. bringing governments, financial institutions, and the private sector together around practical solutions, reducing energy demand and strengthening resilience. These few examples point to a simple conclusion. We know what works. The challenge is no longer identifying solutions. The challenge is scaling them, financing them, and delivering them faster. Mr. President, UNEP stands ready to support you on this ambitious journey. I thank you.

Well, thank you very much, Martin. Now, I would like to give the floor to Inea Seru Ratu, Special Envoy of Ocean.

President-designate, Minister Kuru, and let me congratulate Turkey on the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. As Pacific COP31 Ocean Envoy, I warmly welcome the Presidency's focus on partnership, implementation and delivery. The Pacific values the strong collaboration we have built with Turkey and Australia through the COP31 partnership and we look forward to continuing this journey together. For us, the ocean and seas are more than geography. They connect us. They connect our peoples, our economies, our cultures, and our shared future. They remind us that no country can address climate change alone. That is why ocean action must be part of the pathway forward. A healthy ocean supports climate resilience, sustainable development, and a future in which communities can thrive. The Pacific was instrumental in helping secure the inclusion of the 1.5 degree goal in the Paris Agreement. We have come a long way since then, but we know there is still much work to do. Keeping 1.5 degrees within reach will require partnership, determination, and practical action across all sectors of the global economy. Today's action agenda is an important contribution to that effort. By bringing countries, communities, businesses, and civil society together around shared priorities and practical solutions, Turkey is helping create the partnerships needed to turn ambition into implementation and help keep 1.5 degrees within reach. I look forward to working with Turkey and partners across the world as we move towards the Pacific-hosted pre-COP in Fiji and then COP31 in Antalya. Together, through partnerships and shared purpose, we can deliver meaningful outcomes for our ocean, our peoples, and future generations. Thank you.

So Well, thank you. Now I would like to give the floor to the strategic partner of COP31, International Energy Agency. Dan Dorner.

Mr. Karum, distinguished guests, on behalf of the International Energy Agency and my executive director, Dr. Fatih Birol, Let me praise and thank the COP31 presidency for your clear, coherent and ambitious action agenda. We are obviously honoured to have been working with you throughout the course of this year and your wonderful team as your strategic partner, which has itself been very action oriented. The IEA and our activities, I think, are very well aligned with your energy priorities as part of this action agenda and with supporting all of those aspects as we all look to work together to deliver on it. As an immediate example of our own focus on action to support your agenda, the IEA will tomorrow launch a special report on electrification at the request of Turkey and Australia. very much focused on how to plot the path to 35 by 35, the key actions that are needed to achieve it and the benefits of doing so, respecting the different starting points and pathways that countries find themselves in. In support of your agenda, we will also bring forward work on zero waste and methane. on clean cooking and on reducing energy intensity as part of the resilient cities focus. And that will come forward as we work with you from this important moment here today in New York, all the way through to COP31 in Antalya and beyond. But thank you so much to you and your team for our great partnership as we endeavor to deliver for you. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much, Dan Dorner. Now, Loss and Damage Intervention Fund. Well, I think Ibrahima is not with us right now. I now would like to give the floor to Katie on behalf of United Kingdom.

Thank you, Minister Khurram, Excellencies, Ministers, and thank you to the whole UN family, Australia, and everyone here for this early focus on the action agenda at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week and New York Climate Week. We all know that we must continue to focus our efforts to meet the commitments that we have signed up to. particularly the knowledge and the essential point that 1.5 degrees must remain our shared objective. That climate goal is clear and we know that we are not on track, but the action agenda is a driver for change and for ambition in implementation. It provides us with ways in which we can work together in partnerships, governments, businesses, civil society, to share ideas and to make practical and tangible impact at the local and the global level. We must build on what exists and we must focus on what we know works. In that light, we welcome the objectives shared here, including the focus on how to speed up the transition to clean energy and the spotlight on electrification. We must continue to reduce emissions together and to build resilience together. especially for the most vulnerable, enabling finance to flow to where it is needed most. And we offer our full support to the COP31 presidency in the coming weeks at COP31 and through to COP32 and beyond, and to working with everyone here to deliver on those commitments and ambition. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Katie. United Kingdom. Well, the United Kingdom is supporting us sincerely throughout this process, and I would like to thank them for their support. Now I would like to give the floor to Royal Ramona from Papua New Guinea, the special envoy for access to funding.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Krom and Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, excellencies, adding on to Honorable Inia, my fellow envoy for the Pacific and other distinguished delegates before me, I too would like to pass my congratulations to Turkey for its leadership in launching the COP31 action agenda. As Pacific COP31 envoy for access to climate finance, I strongly welcome the President's emphasis on implementation, cooperation, and delivery. The Pacific has always believed that partnership is the foundation of successful climate action, and today's launch reflects that spirit. As we move towards the Pacific-hosted pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu, and then COP31 in Antalya, we have an opportunity to work together to ensure that climate ambition is matched by climate delivery. For vulnerable countries, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries, success will be measured by whether finance becomes more accessible, more responsive, and more effective in supporting communities on the front line of climate change. The action agenda provides an opportunity and an important platform to bring governments, development banks, climate funds, investors, and communities together around practical solutions. I look forward to working closely with Turkey and partners from around the world to advance these shared objectives and ensure that partners partnerships delivers real outcomes for people and communities. We thank you.

And now I would like to give the floor to Mattias on behalf of Sweden.

Thank you, Minister. Such a pleasure to be here and commending you to all the work that you and your team are doing to deliver results across the Action Agenda. And you can count on the support of Sweden, of course, our colleagues also across the European Union in providing that kind of results which we need to see. Just this week, Sweden is hosting conversation both on the role of cities as well as also on the solutions across energy, transport and industry and how that can contribute to accelerating implementation over NDCs and it's really encouraging and we're so happy to see how the COP30 and the COP31 presidencies are building momentum for capturing an outcome from COP31 that goes beyond also negotiations. So we would hope to see an outcome from COP 31 that reflects the priorities and the targets in the action agenda, crucially providing the signal to markets that demand for solutions are indeed accelerating. And just to pick up also on Simon's call to all of us to strengthen collaboration across sectors, governments and actors to set the direction we need to accelerate implementation of our NDCs. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. We have one more speaker, Anna Rasmussen, on behalf of Small Island States.

Thank you. Thank you, President. On behalf of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States, we are pleased to offer a few remarks at the launch of the COP31 Action Agenda. We welcome and congratulate COP31 Presidency of Turkey and Australia as the incoming Presidency of negotiations on today's launch, acknowledging also the important foundation laid by the COP30 Presidency of Brazil, whose revitalization and stewardship of the action agenda has brought us to this moment. Over successive presidencies, we have watched the Action Agenda evolve, and what was once a broad aspirational framework has matured into a mechanism with clearer thematic priorities, greater institutional coherence, and importantly, a stronger and more direct relevance to the negotiated outcomes of the UNFCCC process. That evolution is welcome, and today's launch reflects that progress. AOSIS is particularly pleased to see the development of an institutional framework for the Action Agenda. We must be candid, however, about what we need to see next: stronger, more sustainable and verifiable accountability and transparency for the actions identified under this Agenda. Communities made under the Action Agenda must translate into delivery on the ground for those who most affected, and that delivery must be measurable. In that spirit, we say clearly, please do not leave SIDS behind. SIDS must not be sized out of Action Agenda initiatives by economies of scale, by eligibility criteria, by readiness gaps. As we hear a lot of the previous speakers speak to these gaps, we do insist that SIDS be part of this solution. The Action Agenda must actively counter that tendency and not replicate it. We also wish to highlight the critical importance of the Global Implementation Accelerator as a vehicle for translating ambition into action. AOSIS must emphasize the importance of this linkage as we see potential in the GIA as a mechanism for emphasizing SIDS relevant solutions and accelerating our access to finance, technology and the partnerships that deliver them. Finally, President, as a coalition representing the most climate-vulnerable nations on Earth, the Alliance of Small Island States must stress the urgency of responding to the reality of an overshoot. We are already living beyond the limits what our communities can safely absorb. The action agenda must be a vehicle that puts all tools to work, mobilizing all actors, hopefully hearing all the actors speaking today, all the stakeholders, and all available resources to accelerate action, now and not later. And that engagement must be sustained beyond COP31. AOSIS stands ready to engage constructively in all the initiatives, in all the partnerships, in all the technical cooperation, and in the negotiations themselves to help strengthen the Action Agenda's framework. and to ensure that this action agenda delivers with SIDS fully included. Again, we are honored to be the last speaker for today's launch, Mr. President, and hope to be involved in many of the initiatives going forward on the action agenda. I thank.

You.

Okay, thank you very much. Of course, you'll be included. Of course, you'll be included, Anna. So This is what we have to do. So on behalf of island states and having pre-COP in Fiji is something is in the very heart of the process. So it is very important for you to express yourselves, of course, but any request from your side or from any country, if this is transmitted to the COP presidency, we'll be providing any support we can. So I would like to articulate here. Of course, I would like to extend my thanks to all of you for the discussions we have held today. Here, we have not only introduced our action agenda, we have listened to you, we have negotiated, we have assessed the barriers and needs standing in the way of implementation, as well as the areas where we can move forward together. And we will reflect these views and recommendations you have put forward today in our work on the road to Antalya. We do not see COP31 action agenda as a complete program, but as a living agenda shaped and implemented together with our partners. The key message I take away from today's discussions is this: We must now jointly set out not only what needs to be done, but also how it should be done. So we must facilitate access to finance, strengthen capacity, bring technology and investments together with real needs, and strengthen cooperation in a way that accelerates implementation. Our gathering here in New York is very important on the road to Antalya. We will further these consultations. So our success will not just be depending on our decisions, but these decisions, what will they change on the ground? So we will be assessing from that perspective. So for that reason, I invite you not only to participate in COP31, but also to become active partners of our action agenda, to contribute to our initiatives and to bring concrete results together on the road to Antalya. Let us move forward together from dialogue to implementation, from targets to results. So we will be greatly pleased to welcome you and host you all in Antalya in November. I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for your contributions. Thank you.