A summer of record heatwaves driven by El Niño, devastating floods across Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and stark reports warning that limiting warming to 1.5°C will now require bringing temperatures back down from an overshoot: the climate crisis has once again dominated headlines this summer. To see how the multilateral process is responding, here is where climate policy stands today – and where the road ahead is going.
From COP 30 to COP 31: The Road from Belém to Antalya
Last year’s COP 30 in Belém, Brazil, represented the closure of a foundational cycle, capping the first Global Stocktake and locking in the next round of national climate targets for 2035. While these submissions represent progress, they also fall short of what is required to keep global warming below 1.5°C. Faced with this growing gap, climate governance is adapting through a two-tiered approach to move toward implementation.
The first tier represents the traditional consensus-driven UN process with its anchors in accountability, transparency and baseline targets. Looking ahead to COP 31 in Antalya, one of the defining tests for this formal track will be climate finance. With many bilateral concrete commitments expiring across 2026 and 2027, and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) demanding practical delivery mechanisms, Parties must secure long-term public funding while creating concrete avenues to mobilize private climate finance.
In tandem, the second tier empowers open "coalitions of the willing," regional blocs and non-state actors to move ahead at a faster pace. This dynamic is already gaining traction through the international roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, with initial countries now outlining concrete transition pathways.
The COP 31 presidency is advancing this climate action agenda by signaling early expectations around sectoral priorities, particularly global electrification.
Climate Weeks to Enhance the Climate Action Agenda
At the same time, experience has shown that concentrating the entire process into an annual two-week COP or its preparatory June Climate Conference, is reaching its limits. Instead, Climate Weeks have emerged as important implementation hubs, keeping the momentum going and moving action forward throughout the year. These platforms bridge official UN-convened sessions, such as the 2026 climate weeks in Yeosu and Baku, alongside climate action mobilization hubs like London Climate Action Week and Climate Week NYC. As formal negotiating agendas at COP and the mid-year Bonn Climate Meetings are increasingly at their capacity, a growing share of officially mandated UNFCCC technical dialogues are also now directly part of these Climate Weeks.
After New York UNGA: What’s Next on Climate?
This more decentralized model has achieved a high resonance during Climate Week NYC, which ran parallel to the 81st UN General Assembly High-Level Week to link real-economy climate aspirations to UN multilateral processes. Beyond official climate events such as the Secretary-General’s high-level meetings on climate action and the just transition, UNGA 81 carried a unique stake: it marked the final months of António Guterres’ second term and an important stage in the diplomatic campaign to select the next UN Secretary-General. Throughout his two terms, Guterres turned the UN’s top post into a central platform for climate agenda setting. As a result, he leaves a legacy where demonstrated climate leadership is a non-negotiable for anyone seeking to succeed him. The next UN Secretary-General will face high expectations to move to multilateral execution, mobilizing the UN system for concrete, on-the-ground implementation – in a time of compounding climate crisis.
