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UN
Climate Change – Global Climate Action
29
January
2026 | |
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Climate
High-Level Champions'
Newsletter | |
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Climate
Action isn’t Stalling, it’s Shifting Gears
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In
this month’s edition Türkiye appoints the
COP 31 Climate High-Level Champion. Meanwhile, we
take a look at why climate action is proving more
resilient than the headlines suggest with strong
clean energy investment. Also in the spotlight
this month: the Belém Health Action Plan which
aims to help health centers worldwide prepare for
climate shocks.
Türkiye Appoints Samed
Ağırbaş as COP 31 Climate High-Level
Champion |
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Samed
Ağırbaş, COP 31 Climate High-Level Champion.
Credit: UN Climate
Change | |
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COP 31 President-Designate
Murat Kurum has appointed Samed Ağırbaş as Climate
High-Level Champion ahead of COP 31 in Antalya
this November, marking a crucial handoff in global
climate leadership. He will help lead the Global
Climate Action Agenda and the Marrakech
Partnership for Global Climate Action alongside
the COP 31 Presidency and Dan Ioschpe, COP 30
Climate High-Level Champion.
Currently Ağırbaş serves as
chairman of the Zero Waste Foundation in Türkiye
and president of the Zero Waste Forum. He has been
a leading voice on waste reduction, sustainable
cities and youth entrepreneurship, including
through leadership roles at the Istanbul
Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly and UN
Habitat.
"People want to see cleaner
energy, safer cities and real protection from
climate shocks. My job is to bring climate action
out of conference rooms and into daily life. I am
looking forward to working with all stakeholders
to support implementation,” Ağırbaş said.
Read the
full announcement.
Climate
Action in a Turbulent World – A New Era for the
Action Agenda
As 2026 dawns, it would be
easy to think the world is falling behind on
global climate action. Global emissions continued
to rise in 2025 and the latest UNEP
Emissions Gap Report found that current
national climate commitments and policies are
still short of the reductions needed to limit
warming to 1.5 °C. Meanwhile, governments
subsidised fossil fuels to the tune of around USD 725
billion in 2024, underscoring the dependency
on these energy systems rather than on ones that
promote clean air and healthy livelihoods.
However, market momentum
tells a more positive story. Global renewable
capacity is still projected to grow by 4,600 GW
by 2030 – roughly equivalent to the combined
installed power capacity of China, the European
Union, and Japan. To put that in context, one GW
can power hundreds
of thousands of homes (and by some estimates,
nearly 750,000) per year. China alone installed
more than 300 GW of
solar and over 100 GW of wind in 2025, setting
a global record, while coal generation fell in
both China and India, as record amounts of clean
energy came online. Europe has also added
renewable capacity at an unprecedented pace. For
example, an Ember
report just revealed that in 2025, wind and
solar produced more electricity than fossil fuels
in the European Union for the first time.
Corporate energy buyers are
backing up that momentum with record deals. The
Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) reported
that companies purchased nearly
22 GW of
clean energy in 2024 (the highest amount in a
single year) although 2025 numbers are yet to be
released. Among 300+ major
global companies surveyed in 2025 – each with
over USD 100 million in revenue – 88%
view sustainability as a potential driver of
long-term value. Additionally, 80% say they can
measure returns on investment for
sustainability-related projects.
“We’re still seeing record
deals in renewable technologies: Global investment
reached USD 386
billion in the first half of 2025 alone – up
10% from the year before. For every dollar going
into fossil fuel projects, more than
two dollars went into renewable power. In the
four largest emitting countries, that ratio was
even higher at USD
2.60 to one,” said Dan Ioschpe, COP 30 Climate
High-Level Champion.
“At the same time, many of
the world’s largest corporations are increasing
their sustainability commitments as they see the
intrinsic value of such approaches and the overall
benefits of sustainable social economic
development.”
120 Plans
to Accelerate Climate Solutions
At the heart of this shift
is the Global
Climate Action Agenda — a delivery
architecture which is designed to turn shared
goals into real-world progress. At COP 30, a new
vision for the Action Agenda was launched with the
renewal of the structure of the Marrakech
Partnership to meet the practical demands of
implementation.
More than 480 initiatives
involving 190 countries have been brought together
within the Action Agenda’s ‘Activation Groups’ to
tackle barriers and speed up solutions across
systems and sectors. Their work is guided by
‘Plans to Accelerate Solutions (PAS)’ – clear,
time-bound roadmaps that help align policy,
finance, and delivery around shared priorities.
Today, more than 120 PAS are available on the UN Climate
Change NAZCA Portal, including plans for buildings, power
grids, health, nature-based solutions, water
access, road
transport, steel,
and more.
Click here
for more information.
Inside the Belém Health
Action Plan
Climate action is also
becoming increasingly cross-sectoral. For example,
the Belém
Health Action Plan, launched at COP 30 under
Axis 5: “Fostering Human and Social
Development”
of the Climate Action Agenda is the first
international framework specifically dedicated to
climate adaptation for health systems. So far, the
Plan has secured commitments from 30 countries and
50 organizations to climate-proof hospitals and
clinics, strengthen disease-surveillance systems,
and prepare health workers for rising heat,
floods, and changing patterns of infection. It has
also unlocked an initial USD 300 million in
philanthropic
funding. | |
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A nurse
in Marsabit County, Kenya, writes a prescription
for a woman visiting a mobile health clinic in
Ntiliya village. Credit: World Health Organization
(WHO). | |
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To understand how the Belém
Health Action Plan took shape – and its potential
to create a step-change in climate-resilient
health systems – the Climate Champions Team
interviewed Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of
the climate change and health unit at the World
Health Organization (WHO).
Read
more
What
Delivery Looks Like in Practice
Many other outcomes of the Climate Action
Agenda, show that the transition is already
underway at scale. To name a few examples:
● The
Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) – a
coalition of the world’s leading utilities
established at COP 28 – will more than triple its
combined renewable energy capacity by 2030,
backed by USD 1 trillion. Last year alone, UNEZA
built enough new grids to stretch from Belém to
New Zealand.
● Adaptation
finance partners announced a drive to turn
National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) into project
pipelines worth USD 1
trillion. This enables countries to attract
large-scale investment for adapting to climate
impacts, for example, by strengthening buildings
and infrastructure.
● Additionally, 437
million people are now living with greater
resilience to floods, droughts and other climate
disasters across 134 countries.
“What we witnessed last
year was the power of a global Mutirão in motion,”
said Dan Ioschpe, Climate High-Level Champion for
COP 30, “cities accelerating decarbonisation,
businesses rethinking supply chains, financiers
backing the transition at scale, and Indigenous
Peoples safeguarding nature’s frontlines.”
From Belém
to Antalya
COP 30 marked a
re-calibration for climate action — defined not by
new promises, but by steady, shared delivery where
it matters most: on the ground and in people’s
lives. COP 31, which will be hosted in Antalya,
Türkiye will build on this momentum. In a partnership arrangement,
Türkiye will assume the role of COP 31 President,
while Australia will be the President of the
Negotiations.
Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s
Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change
Minister, who was recently appointed COP 31
President-designate said: “I believe that our
country, with its politics, bureaucracy, civil
society, and population of 86 million people, will
use this historic opportunity to the benefit of
disadvantaged regions and the entire world.”
In support of this effort,
Australia will lead the negotiations, including
the production of draft text, and convene
consultations to inform the negotiations. Building
on the efforts of the COP 30 Brazilian Presidency,
Türkiye and Australia will work together, and with
Pacific island countries, to strengthen and
elevate the Climate Action Agenda.
The work ahead isn't about
reinventing the wheel. It's about making sure the
wheel turns faster — and reaches
everyone. | |
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● Twelfth
Letter from COP 30 President André Corrêa do
Lago where he committed to further elevate the
Action Agenda, together with the Climate
High-Level Champions, as a multistakeholder
platform for accelerating the implementation of
the Paris Agreement and COP decisions.
● African
Coastal Cities Are Preparing For Floods: From
Beira to Durban, African coastal cities are
strengthening flood resilience by combining
community leadership, local knowledge and climate
science to protect lives and livelihoods as
climate impacts intensify.
● Pete’s
Story: The Billion Oyster Project: Inspired by
his roots in oyster farming, Pete Malinowski
helped to launch a project to mobilize communities
and students to restore New York Harbour’s oyster
reefs as a natural shield against climate
risks.
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● World
Governments Summit, Dubai, UAE, 3-5
February.
● 25th World
Sustainable Development Summit WSDS, New
Delhi, India, 25–27 February.
● Spring
Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington,
D.C., USA, 13 – 18 April.
● UN Forum
on Forests, New York City, USA, 11 – 15
May.
● Africa CEO
Forum, Kigali, Rwanda, 14 – 15 May.
● Rio Nature
& Climate Week, Rio, Brazil, 1 – 6
June.
● Bonn
Climate Conference (SB 64), Bonn, Germany, 8 –
18 June.
● G7
Summit, Évian, France, 14 - 16 June.
● IEA Annual
Global Conference on Energy Efficiency,
Montreal, Canada, 29 – 30 June.
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