UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell on Saturday, 15 November 2025 urged negotiators at the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey to accelerate progress, warning against 'tactical delays' as the two-week summit crossed its halfway mark. The conference, which runs through 20 November, is focused on converting climate pledges into concrete action — particularly on financing for developing nations.

Stiell's Midpoint Warning

'Getting agreement on every word, every sentence, is tough but vital work. There is no collective success without compromise from every Party,' Stiell told reporters at a press briefing in the Turkish coastal city. He called on delegations to 'move swiftly to the hardest issues and to avoid tactical delays,' signalling growing concern that negotiations could stall in the second week.

Stiell also emphasised that the summit's practical climate initiatives were gaining momentum, seeking to bridge international agreements and the real economy through clean energy, resilient infrastructure, greener industry, and disaster resilience. He notably broadened the conversation beyond policy corridors, arguing that the climate fight must reach 'billions of people in their everyday lives through areas such as sports, entertainment, and culture.'

'We need to get better at connecting climate impacts and solutions to the things people need — like better health, good jobs, and affordable, secure energy — and with the things they love — like sports,' he said.

Guterres Calls Out 'Structural Injustice' in Climate Finance

A day earlier, on Friday, 14 November, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a pointed rebuke of the global climate finance architecture, describing it as marked by 'structural injustice.' Speaking at a press conference at COP31, Guterres highlighted the vast funding gap facing vulnerable nations.

'Developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable, will need far greater support for adaptation and for loss and damage,' he said. 'Even tripling adaptation finance would meet less than 30 per cent of what is needed.'

Guterres took aim squarely at wealthier polluters: 'Those that pollute more have not created the conditions to gather the resources that are necessary to adequately respond to the needs of those that suffer.' He also called for more effective deployment of existing financial resources to expand climate action funding.

What COP31 Is Trying to Achieve

COP31, which opened on Monday, 11 November in Antalya, marks a pivotal attempt to shift the global climate conversation from ambition to implementation. Central to its agenda are three interlinked priorities: scaling up climate finance for developing countries, strengthening adaptation measures, and accelerating the clean energy transition.

The conference comes amid mounting scientific consensus that existing national commitments are insufficient to hold global warming to 1.5°C, and against a backdrop of increasingly severe extreme weather events across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Notably, the pressure on developed countries has never been greater — the finance debate at this year's summit is widely seen as the make-or-break issue.

What the Second Week Holds

With negotiators entering the more contentious second half of the summit, the coming days are expected to surface deep divisions on how much developed nations commit to climate finance and on what terms. Industry observers and climate advocates are watching whether the momentum Stiell cited will translate into binding commitments before the 20 November deadline. A failure to reach consensus on finance could cast a shadow over COP31's legacy and delay action on the ground in the most vulnerable countries.