As world leaders prepare for November’s major COP31 climate summit in Türkiye, record-breaking heat, devastating floods and an unprecedented El Niño climate pattern are making global climate action ever more urgent.
Ahead of the summit, leaders gathered for a pre-conference in the South Pacific this week to prepare for the intense negotiations to come and set the agenda.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed joined senior government figures and top policy makers in Tuvalu and Fiji – two Pacific island nations facing the brunt of rising seas and intensifying floods – to lay out the UN’s climate priorities.
“We must take urgent action to ensure every child born today across the Pacific Islands can grow up, prosper and live on the islands they call home,” she told the pre-COP in Fiji.
‘Keeping 1.5 alive’
A key priority raised by the UN Deputy Secretary-General was “keeping 1.5 alive” – referencing the 2015 Paris Agreement target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
As the world is heading to exceed the 1.5°C target, Ms Mohammed urged states not to give up.
“Overshoot is not a reason to surrender,” she said in Tuvalu. “It is a call to accelerate – to make overshoot as short and small as possible and bring temperatures back down below 1.5 as quickly as possible.”
Reduce emissions, boost security
She called on leaders to deliver on promises made at previous climate conferences, most notably the 2023 Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28) where leaders agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, triple renewable capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.
She highlighted the benefits of this transition to renewables by linking it directly to energy security.
“For the 655 million people still living without electricity, clean power means a mother surviving birth with the lights on, and a child doing her homework after dark,” she said in Fiji.
“It frees economies from the price swings from impacts of global conflicts on fossil fuels.”
Protect and adapt
At the same time, with the impacts of global warming already being felt, the UN Deputy Secretary-General also called for stronger adaptation and protection measures.
© UNICEF/Lasse Bak Mejlvang
Waves crash against a road by Tuvalu’s shoreline.
She urged countries to expand early warning systems, which help predict extreme weather events and alert communities before disaster strikes.
“An early warning that reaches a family hours before a cyclone gives them time to get to safety,” she explained in Fiji.
These systems must be complemented by resilient infrastructure, secure water supplies and healthy ecosystems, she stressed, highlighting ongoing efforts in Pacific communities to strengthen coastal resilience and restore marine ecosystems.
Fair funding
To enable this transition, a quick, fair and clear funding scheme is critical.
She reiterated that developed countries should take the lead – pointing to the Baku to Belém Roadmap which aims to mobilise at least $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for developing countries by 2035.
Crucially, she emphasised that funding must be easy to access.
“Every dollar has to arrive where it is meant to go. A small island ministry with a handful of staff should be able to reach concessional finance quickly and simply,” she said in Fiji.
“The UN’s message remains emphatic: Keep the promise of Paris, fight harder, and make the tragic overshoot as small and short as possible,” she emphasised.
