Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, will mark the beginning of a new “era of implementation” in global climate action.
Stiell spoke on Thursday in Istanbul during a press conference hosted by Murat Kurum, COP31 president-designate. Report Climate Cable
He said the world is entering a third phase of climate action focused on delivering agreed commitments rather than debating targets.
“We find ourselves in a new world disorder. This is a period of instability and insecurity. Of strong arms and trade wars. The very concept of international cooperation is under attack,” he said.
“These challenges are real and serious. But climate action can deliver stability in an unstable world. In the face of the current chaos, we can, and must, drive forward a new era of international climate cooperation.
“From those determined to use their power to defy economic and scientific logic, and increase dependence on polluting coal, oil and gas — even though that means worsening climate disasters and spiraling costs for households and businesses.
“In short, driving forward a new, third era of climate action. The era of implementation. This is an era to speed-up and scale-up.”
Stiell said countries must now focus on delivering and exceeding the targets agreed during the first global stocktake in 2023, including doubling energy efficiency, tripling clean energy capacity by 2030, transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just and orderly manner, and strengthening resilience.
He said COP31 will take place “in extraordinary times”, describing the current geopolitical climate as a “new world disorder”.
Stiell argued that despite political and economic turbulence, the global clean energy transition has continued to advance.
“In the decade since Paris, clean energy investment is up tenfold – from two hundred billion dollars to over two trillion dollars a year,” he said.
“In 2025… clean energy investment kept growing strongly, and was more than double that of fossil fuels. Renewables overtook coal as the world’s top electricity source.”
He added that at COP30, countries affirmed that “the global transition is now irreversible, the Paris Agreement is working, and together we will make it go further and faster”.
However, he acknowledged that progress is “clearly still not as fast or fair enough”.
