UN climate chief says 1.5C overshoot now inevitable, urges faster implementation
At Pre-COP in Fiji, UN climate executive secretary Simon Stiell said overshoot of 1.5C is now inevitable and called for faster delivery of national plans and finance.
The story in focus
UN climate chief Simon Stiell told the opening of Pre-COP in Fiji that overshooting 1.5C of warming is now inevitable, and urged countries to shorten and shrink the breach by delivering agreed commitments, national plans and climate finance.
- Stiell said science shows overshoot of 1.5C is now inevitable and called for the breach to be kept short and small.
- He urged full implementation, and where possible overachievement, of national climate plans.
- He backed a COP31 Action Agenda call for electricity to reach 35% of global energy use by 2035.
Overshoot acknowledged
Speaking at the official opening of Pre-COP in Fiji, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said limiting warming to 1.5C is demanded by science, agreed by nations and essential for small islands in the Pacific and his own Caribbean region. He then said science indicates overshoot of that threshold is now inevitable.
Stiell said the world must mobilise to keep the breach as short and small as possible, including by meeting globally agreed commitments and fully implementing national plans. He said that by the second global stocktake at COP33, countries must be much closer to the targets set at the first.
Resilience, process and finance
Stiell said climate impacts are escalating and will worsen during overshoot, while preparedness lags behind. He called on COP to acknowledge this and the need to strengthen resilience, and said the UN climate process is developing practical architecture to drive implementation with governments, cities, states and the private sector.
On finance, he said commitments must be delivered and that access and quality must be addressed. He cited the Statement and Action Plan on Access to Climate Finance for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, saying it needs broad backing, including from development bank boards, to get finance to the ground rapidly. He also urged countries, business leaders and investors to respond to the COP31 Presidency's Action Agenda call, including for electricity to reach 35% of global energy use by 2035.
What does the UN climate chief say about the 1.5C target?
Simon Stiell said 1.5C is demanded by science, agreed by nations and essential for small islands, but that science shows overshoot is now inevitable. He urged action to keep the breach short and small.
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