'Paris Agreement is working to deliver real progress, but we must strive valiantly for more': Simon Stiell speech on opening day of COP30 in Belém, Brazil

Below are remarks from UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the opening plenary of COP30 in n Belém, Brazil, on Monday 10 November 2025.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

Ten years ago in Paris, we were designing the future - a future that would clearly see the curve of emissions bend downwards.

Colleagues - Welcome to that future.

The emissions curve has been bent downwards. Because of what was agreed in halls like this, with governments legislating, and markets responding.

But I am not sugar-coating it. We have so much more work to do.

We must move much, much, faster on both reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience.

The science is clear: we can and must bring temperatures back down to 1.5C after any temporary overshoot.

Lamenting is not a strategy. We need solutions.

We find ourselves here in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon. And we can learn a lot from this mighty river.

The Amazon isn't a single entity, rather a vast river system supported and powered by over a thousand tributaries.

To accelerate implementation, the COP process must be supported in the same way - powered by the many streams of international cooperation.

Because individual national commitments alone are not cutting emissions fast enough.

We don't need to wait for late NDCs to slowly trickle in, to spot the gap and design the innovations necessary to tackle it.

Not one single nation among you can afford this, as climate disasters rip double-digits off GDP.

To falter whilst mega-droughts wreck national harvests, sending food prices soaring, makes zero sense, economically or politically.

To squabble while famines take hold, forcing millions to flee their homelands, this will never be forgotten, as conflicts spread.

While climate disasters decimate the lives of millions, when we already have the solutions, this will never, ever be forgiven.

The economics of this transition are as indisputable as the costs of inaction.

Solar and wind are now the lowest-cost power in 90 percent of the world.

Renewables overtook coal this year as the world's top energy source.

Investment in clean energy and infrastructure will hit another record high this year - with investments in renewables outstripping fossil fuels 2 to 1.

So what needs to be decided here in Belém to match the opportunities, with the scale of the crisis we face?

Because we have already agreed that we will transition away from fossil fuels. Now's the time to focus on how we do it fairly and orderly. Focusing on which deals to strike, to accelerate the tripling of renewables and doubling energy efficiency.

We have already agreed to deliver at least 300 billion in climate finance, with developed countries taking the lead. We now need to put the Baku to Belém Roadmap to work. To start moving towards the 1.3 trillion.

We have already agreed a global goal on adaptation. We now need to agree on the indicators that will help speed up implementation, to unleash its potential.

We have already agreed that transition pathways must be inclusive and just - covering whole economies and societies. Now we must agree on concrete steps to turn aspirations into actions.

We have already agreed on a Technology Implementation Programme. Now let's set it in motion.

Strong and clear outcomes on all of these issues are essential. This is how we signal to the world that climate cooperation is delivering results.

In Belém, we've got to marry the world of negotiations to the actions needed in the real economy.

The Action Agenda is not a 'nice-to-have' - it is mission-critical. More than that, it is entirely in every nation's enlightened self-interest to do so.

Every gigawatt of clean power cuts pollution and creates more jobs.

Every action to build resilience helps save lives, strengthen communities, and protect the global supply chains that every economy depends on.

This is the growth story of the 21^st century - the economic transformation of our age. Those opting out or taking baby-steps face stagnation and higher prices, while other economies surge ahead.

To paraphrase President Roosevelt over a century ago. It is not the critic who counts or the one who points out where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena with their faces marred by dust and sweat and blood who strive valiantly.

But friends let me be clear: in this arena of COP30, your job here is not to fight one another - your job here is to fight this climate crisis, together.

Paris is working to deliver real progress. Let's not forget that.

But friends - we must strive valiantly for more.

I thank you.