COP31: Climate finance falls short as calls grow for polluters to pay

Today at COP31

• Climate finance: Guterres calls for reforms to an international financial system he says is failing vulnerable countries.
• New investments: A $10 billion initiative aims to finance climate projects in emerging markets.
• On the ground: UN experts highlight support for disaster-hit communities, farmers and innovative insurance schemes.
• Negotiations: COP31 Presidency circulates first outline of a possible political declaration, with climate finance and fossil fuels remaining among the key unresolved issues.

Some demonstrators held signs demanding that “polluters pay”. Others, dressed as chefs, offered a recipe for climate action: debt cancellation as the secret ingredient.

Along the corridors and waterways of the COP31 venue in Antalya, protesters from across the globe gathered to demand climate justice. Some fought back tears, while others wept openly, recounting the lives and livelihoods already lost to climate change.

Speaking of Lake Chad, where drought and fluctuating water levels have devastated communities and displaced families, a Nigerian activist questioned why his country, which has contributed little to global emissions, faces far higher borrowing costs than wealthier nations to cope with climate impacts.

Similar concerns echoed through Friday’s finance discussions, as the Secretary-General warned that climate disasters were erasing decades of development gains and pushing vulnerable countries deeper into debt.

“Even tripling adaptation finance would meet less than 30 per cent of what is needed,” he told journalists at his final COP press conference as Secretary-General before leaving office at the end of the year.

The consequences, he argued, extend far beyond the environment.

“You cannot build peace on a burning planet,” he said. “You cannot eradicate poverty when climate disasters keep throwing people back into it.”

Climate action, he insisted, must remain central to the UN’s work, requiring a faster transition away from fossil fuels and a challenge to the “powerful interests” standing in the way.

“The future of our planet cannot be negotiated on the terms of those profiting from its destruction.”

Breaking the debt trap

But finding the money to protect vulnerable countries is another battle. The UN chief revealed that he had met with the heads of international climate funds earlier on Friday, urging them to cut through the bureaucracy that makes financial assistance so difficult to access, particularly for countries with limited resources.

He also questioned the fairness of a global financial system designed after the Second World War, when many developing countries had little say in shaping it.

Changing that system, he argued, could also help unlock more funding. A dollar invested in the capital of a development bank, for example, could generate eight to ten dollars in financing, while greater use of guarantees could attract private investment.

At a ministerial meeting, UN climate chief Simon Stiell described the consequences of leaving things as they are.

“Many developing countries are trapped in a downward loop of debt, disaster, and devastating capital costs,” he said. “Climate finance must help countries break free.”

Under existing agreements, developed countries are expected to lead efforts to mobilize at least $300 billion a year for developing nations by 2035, as part of a broader $1.3 trillion goal.

But an assessment highlighted at COP31 suggests that, on current trends, annual climate finance could fall $840 billion short of that larger target.

Fresh efforts to close the gap emerged on Friday. Development finance institutions from Britain, Norway and Canada announced plans to mobilize $10 billion for climate projects in emerging markets by 2030.

Protecting livelihoods before and after disaster

For millions of farmers, climate finance can mean the difference between adapting to a changing climate and losing everything when disaster strikes.

Kaveh Zahedi, from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told UN News that only around five per cent of climate-related development finance goes to agriculture, and that share is declining.

Yet investing in adaptation can help farmers restore degraded land, use water more efficiently and grow crops better able to withstand droughts and floods, as increasingly unpredictable weather and El Niño are threatening food production.

“The biggest risk is not investing in agriculture,” he warned. “Because then you’re risking food insecurity. You’re risking an increase in hunger.””

Innovative insurance

But even with better preparation, some disasters cannot be avoided. And when they strike, how quickly money arrives can make all the difference.

Imagine a farmer in Fiji whose fields have just been battered by a cyclone. The crops are gone; bills remain. And the next harvest may be months away.

An innovative insurance scheme is helping farmers recover without waiting for lengthy damage assessments.

Known as parametric insurance, it provides payouts when predefined conditions, such as wind speed or rainfall, are reached.

Sinja Buri, from the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, explained why speed matters.

“The longer it takes for him to receive support, the longer it will take to recover. And the costs will even be higher,” she said.

The programme operates across eight Pacific countries, with tens of thousands of people benefiting so far.

Climate action is good business

But tackling climate change is not just about spending money. 

“Climate action is a good investment and it is profitable,” Hunter Lovins, founder of the NGO Natural Capitalism Solutions, told UN News.

With fuel prices soaring in the United States, Ms. Lovins pointed to her own electric car, charged by solar panels at home, as an example of how renewable energy can cut costs and reduce dependence on volatile oil prices.

She has also seen its benefits during a disaster. When floods cut off her community in Colorado and left neighbours without electricity for more than a week, her home solar-powered home remained. Neighbours even brought their frozen food to her freezer.

“This is real security in your community,” she said.

Ms. Lovins now helps organize community-led climate initiatives with more than 1,000 organizers across 57 countries, encouraging people to adopt solutions without waiting for governments.

“You don’t have to wait on a government. Let’s do it.”

An emotional farewell with a rallying cry

Elsewhere at COP31, the spirit of the protests found its way into a plenary hall, where civil society representatives had gathered to bid farewell to Mr. Guterres at his last climate summit as UN Secretary-General.

For nearly a decade, they said, he had been their “champion”, “the best spokesperson they could have wished for”. And they wanted him to know it.

There was a “Make Polluters Pay” award, an emotional standing ovation and even an invitation to return to a future COP wearing an NGO badge, this time as one of them.

The gathering soon took on the familiar sounds of a climate demonstration. Cries of “Make polluters pay!” echoed around the room, joined by another chant: “SG! SG! SG!”

Mr. Guterres, visibly moved by the reception, returned to the issue that had dominated the day. Fossil fuel companies, he argued, should be taxed on their extraordinary profits to help those suffering from a crisis they did little to cause.

“We face lobbies. We face powers that are putting pressure on governments,” he warned, urging activists to keep up the pressure of their own.

As the UN chief prepared to leave his final COP, the message ringing through the hall was clear. The battle for climate justice will go on, and Mr. Guterres “will not stop fighting”.