• Global clean energy investment reached $2 trillion in 2024, yet $1.6 trillion in industrial transition projects remain stalled.
• More than 90% of new renewable energy now costs less than fossil fuel alternatives, but benefits remain unevenly distributed.
• COP30 in Belém will be decisive for delivering $1.3 trillion annually in accessible climate finance and raising ambition on NDCs.

New York Sets the Stage for Belém

Speaking at Climate Week in Manhattan, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell urged governments and business leaders to “step it up fast” ahead of COP30 in Belém, framing the coming year as a defining test for the Paris Agreement’s credibility.

“The next step is to extend Paris-alignment country by country, sector by sector, across every stream of finance,” Stiell told an audience at Mission 2025’s flagship event. “Connecting cabinet rooms closer to boardrooms and living rooms is how we supercharge climate action.”

While stressing that progress has been made — renewable investment has increased tenfold over the past decade — he warned that momentum risks being lost if implementation does not accelerate and if benefits do not reach emerging and developing economies.

Economics Favor Clean Energy, but Gaps Persist

Stiell pointed to hard economics as the driver of change. More than 90% of new renewable projects now outcompete fossil fuels on cost, and technologies for electrification, efficiency and storage are already proven. Global clean energy investment hit $2 trillion last year, spread across nearly every major economy.

Yet the transition remains uneven. Vast sums have yet to be mobilized: $1.6 trillion worth of industrial decarbonization projects are stalled. “That is wasted potential,” Stiell said, warning that supply chains, competitiveness and job creation are at stake.

The UN climate chief threw his support behind Build Clean Now, a new initiative launched by the Industrial Transition Accelerator to fast-track clean industry projects.

AI and Climate: Promise and Risk

Stiell also addressed the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, calling it both “a game-changer” and a risk. He echoed UN Secretary-General António Guterres in pressing AI platforms to be powered by renewables and to focus innovation on efficiency gains.

“Jobs and livelihoods must be protected. Done properly, AI releases human capacity, not replaces it,” he said, noting that his own Secretariat is piloting AI applications to manage microgrids, map climate risk and strengthen resilience planning.

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Governance and Finance at the Center

Looking ahead, Stiell emphasized that COP30 must deliver concrete governance and finance outcomes. Central to negotiations will be the roadmap to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance, a commitment carried over from COP29. The meeting in Belém will also review new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a global adaptation status report, and transparency data on implementation.

He stressed that COP30 outcomes must resonate beyond negotiating halls, translating into jobs, clean energy access, healthier lives and stronger economies — particularly for vulnerable nations.

From New York to Belém

Without UN climate cooperation, Stiell reminded the audience, the world was on course for 5°C of warming. Current trajectories bring that closer to 3°C, still far above the Paris target but evidence, he argued, of progress.

“Every COP builds on the last,” he said. “Right now we need to reaffirm, sending a stronger, unmistakable signal: the world is still rock-solid behind Paris, and fully on board for climate cooperation — because it works.”

As Climate Week closed, attention shifted toward Brazil. For investors, executives and policymakers, the message from New York was clear: the window to align capital, technology and governance is narrowing, and COP30 will be judged on whether it can turn pledges into implementation at scale.

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