UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell speaking at the opening plenary of COP30 in n Belém, Brazil, on 10 November 2025. PHOTO/ Kiara Worth | UN Climate Change.
By PATRICK MAYOYO
newshub@eyewitness.africa
As COP30 gets underway in Belém, Brazil, Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, has delivered a powerful message to the world: the fight against climate change is far from over.
Reflecting on the ten-year milestone since the Paris Agreement, Stiell acknowledged progress but warned that much more urgent action is needed to meet the world’s climate goals.
“Ten years ago, we were designing the future, a future that would bend the emissions curve downwards,” Stiell told delegates in the packed conference hall. “Colleagues, welcome to that future. The curve has indeed bent downward, but not nearly enough. The work is far from done.”
Stiell’s remarks came at a time of mounting climate-related disasters across the globe, from unprecedented heatwaves to catastrophic flooding. He stressed the need for both drastic cuts in emissions and strengthened resilience measures to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
“The science is clear,” he said. “We must bring temperatures back down to 1.5°C, even after any temporary overshoot. But lamenting the situation is not a strategy. We need solutions.”
Drawing a parallel with the mighty Amazon River, which flows through the heart of Belém, Stiell described the climate fight as a complex system of interconnected efforts.
“The Amazon is not a single entity, but a vast network of tributaries. Similarly, we must power the climate agenda through diverse streams of international cooperation,” he explained. “National commitments alone are not enough. We need collaborative, collective action.”
The UN climate chief pointed to the economic toll of inaction, warning that climate disasters were already cutting into global GDP.
“We cannot afford to falter while droughts ruin harvests, driving food prices sky-high,” he said. “The costs of inaction are not just environmental, they are economic, political, and social.”
Stiell also underscored the progress made in renewable energy, noting that solar and wind now provide the lowest-cost power in 90% of the world.
“This year, renewables overtook coal as the world’s top energy source,” he declared, highlighting that investments in clean energy are outpacing fossil fuels two-to-one.
But the path forward, Stiell cautioned, requires further commitments at COP30. “We’ve agreed on goals. Now it’s time to focus on how we achieve them,” he said. He called for concrete steps to ramp up renewable energy production, expand energy efficiency, and accelerate climate finance. “The Baku to Belém Roadmap must be put into action—this is how we move towards the $1.3 trillion needed for climate adaptation and resilience.”
Turning to the pressing issue of fairness in the global transition, Stiell emphasised the need for a just and inclusive climate agenda. “We’ve agreed that the transition must cover entire economies and societies. Now we need to turn these aspirations into actions,” he said.
His speech also called for the rapid implementation of new climate technologies and the scaling up of adaptation efforts to protect vulnerable communities from climate impacts.
“Every gigawatt of clean power created means fewer emissions and more jobs. Every step taken to build resilience saves lives and strengthens global supply chains,” he said.
Stiell wrapped up his address with a powerful call to action, quoting US President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts… the credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, striving valiantly.”
He urged delegates to work together in the fight against climate change, stressing, “Your job here is not to fight one another, but to fight this crisis, together.”
As the negotiations get underway in Belém, the world will be watching closely. With a growing urgency around the climate crisis, COP30 is set to be a crucial turning point in the global fight against climate change.
