COP31 Yearbook: Climate Champions Report a Decade of Action Delivering Results

Antalya: The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2026, launched on the opening day of COP31 in Antalya, reports that climate action by cities, regions, businesses and civil society is now delivering measurable results — with progress recorded across 44 global indicators aligned with the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

Produced by UN Climate Change together with the Climate High-Level Champions, the tenth edition of the Yearbook marks ten years of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. It arrives as COP31 puts implementation at the centre of its agenda, tracking how promises made in negotiations are turning into change in the real economy.

Key facts

• The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2026 was launched on 9 November 2026, the opening day of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
• It presents the latest data on 96 global socio-economic indicators; progress was recorded across 44 of them.
• A record 83 Cooperative Climate Initiatives reported more than 200 actions through the UNFCCC’s Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA).
• 84 per cent of Plans to Accelerate Solutions reported progress after one year of implementation.
• Renewable energy capacity grew 17 per cent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 5,149 gigawatts — and renewables passed coal in electricity generation for the first time.

What the Yearbook of Global Climate Action found

The Yearbook follows the structure of the COP31 Action Agenda and its six thematic priorities: energy and transport, forests and biodiversity, agriculture and food systems, cities and infrastructure, human development, and the finance and technology needed to deliver climate solutions.

Across those six axes, the report finds momentum in several areas — increasing renewable energy capacity, slowing deforestation and growing adaptation measures — while warning that several gaps remain, including oil and gas methane emissions and food loss. The absence of global indicators in some important areas is itself a limitation, the Yearbook notes, because it makes progress harder to track and compare.

“This Yearbook shows how businesses, cities, communities, and more are turning global commitments into change that people are seeing, feeling and benefiting from,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the launch. “But we can and must go much further, faster. COP 31 must help scale up solutions, mobilize finance and bring the benefits of climate action to many more people.”

Energy and forests: momentum, with gaps

In energy, the figures are striking. According to the Yearbook, renewable energy capacity increased by 17 per cent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 5,149 gigawatts globally. Renewable sources also overtook coal in electricity generation for the first time in 2025, supplying 33.8 per cent of global electricity compared with coal’s 33 per cent.

Forests show a mixed picture. Global deforestation declined by nearly 14 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year, and the area under active ecosystem restoration increased to 11.8 million hectares, up from 10.6 million hectares in 2024. But forest degradation remains a major concern: the area affected increased from 63 million hectares in 2022 to 65.4 million hectares in 2024. Forests also receive less than one per cent of global climate finance, leaving an estimated annual financing gap of 66.8 billion US dollars.

Food, jobs and finance

In agriculture, the Yearbook identifies progress in reducing the emissions intensity of livestock digestion and rice cultivation, alongside improvements in global food security. The proportion of people experiencing undernourishment declined from 9.1 per cent in 2023 to 7.8 per cent in 2025.

Renewable energy employment reached 16.6 million jobs in 2024, up from 16.2 million the previous year, showing that the energy transition is also a jobs story. Global climate finance exceeded 2 trillion US dollars in 2024, with growth in both public and private investment.

Adaptation finance, however, moved in the wrong direction: it declined from 81.5 billion US dollars in 2022 to 64.1 billion US dollars in 2024, highlighting the difficulty of directing enough resources towards protecting communities and economies from climate impacts.

Who the Climate Champions are

When governments adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015, they also appointed two High-Level Champions to scale up climate action by non-Party stakeholders — cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society — and to strengthen collaboration with governments. The Champions lead the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, first launched in 2016, and its two campaigns, Race to Zero and Race to Resilience.

The current Champions are Samed Ağırbaş, the COP31 Climate High-Level Champion and president of Türkiye’s Zero Waste Foundation, and Dan Ioschpe, the COP30 Champion. Their mandate was renewed at COP29 until 2030, and a five-year vision for 2026–2030 was launched at COP30 to guide the work ahead. Sally Higgins serves as the COP31 Presidency Youth Climate Champion, carrying young people’s voices into the negotiations.

Watan News earlier reported on the Champions’ Global Climate Action programme for COP31, including the opening event in Antalya and the mandated high-level event scheduled for 19 November: COP31 Climate Champions Open Global Climate Action Programme in Antalya.

What happens next at COP31

Unlike previous editions, the 2026 Yearbook has been launched in a new online format, and UN Climate Change says it will be updated to reflect the key outcomes on Global Climate Action that emerge from COP31. That makes it a living record of the summit, not only a snapshot of the year so far.

The Champions’ Global Climate Action programme continues through the conference, with a mandated high-level event on 19 November in the Plenary Hall. The test, as the Yearbook itself makes clear, is whether the progress it documents can now be scaled up — and whether the gaps it identifies, from methane to adaptation finance, are closed before the next edition is written.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Yearbook of Global Climate Action?

It is an annual report published by UN Climate Change that tracks progress and gaps in climate action by non-Party stakeholders — cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society — and showcases concrete initiatives that can inspire further action and raise ambition.

Who are the Climate High-Level Champions?

The Champions are appointed by each COP Presidency to mobilise climate action beyond governments. The current Champions are Samed Ağırbaş for COP31 and Dan Ioschpe for COP30; Sally Higgins is the COP31 Presidency Youth Climate Champion. Together they lead the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action.

What progress does the 2026 Yearbook report?

Progress was recorded across 44 global indicators aligned with the first global stocktake. Renewable energy capacity grew 17 per cent to 5,149 gigawatts, renewables passed coal in electricity generation, deforestation fell by nearly 14 per cent in 2025, and 84 per cent of Plans to Accelerate Solutions reported progress after one year.

Where are the biggest gaps?

The Yearbook points to oil and gas methane emissions, food loss, and the decline in adaptation finance — from 81.5 billion US dollars in 2022 to 64.1 billion in 2024. Forests receive less than one per cent of global climate finance, and some important areas still lack global indicators to track progress.

Will the Yearbook be updated during COP31?

Yes. The 2026 edition was launched in a new online format, and UN Climate Change says it will be updated to reflect the key outcomes on Global Climate Action that emerge from COP31 in Antalya.

The Yearbook’s message is balanced: a decade of partnership between governments and non-state actors has built real momentum, but the next decade must close the gaps faster than the last one did.