African negotiators to COP31: make decisions happen on the ground

ANTALYA, Türkiye, Nov. 5 – AGN – African countries say the world has made enough promises on climate. Now they want to see results.

The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) met in Antalya ahead of COP31, the UN climate summit, and heard from the head of UN Climate Change, Simon Stiell. Both he and the AGN Chair said the summit will be judged by what is delivered, not by what is agreed.

AGN Chair Nana Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah told delegates at the opening of the AGN Pre-session Plenary that African countries have put a great deal into the climate process and want to be sure that decisions made in meeting rooms actually translate into tangible actions on the ground.

He noted that the Paris Agreement clocked ten years last year, and yet very little has happened with regards to African countries’ national climate plans in terms of implementation.

What is still missing, he said, is the support that makes action possible.

Finance is the key, he said, along with technology and skills, so that decisions reach communities on the ground.

On his part, Mr Stiell said COP31 must turn existing promises into action and show that the Paris Agreement, and countries working together, can deliver. The talks are happening in a difficult time, he said, with climate impacts growing worse and no longer hitting only the most vulnerable countries.

There is no single big political decision on the table this year, he said, but there is a lot of work. The summit has 165 agenda items, more than 140 events run by the host countries and about 350 side events. 

Without a headline decision, negotiators have room to focus on solutions, deliver on what has already been agreed, and prepare for the next Global Stocktake.

What Antalya must achieve

Mr Stiell named four areas where he wants progress:

• Fair transition: set up a way to help countries move away from fossil fuels fairly and agree the next steps.
• Adaptation: finish the work on measuring whether countries are adapting to climate change, set up a team to guide that work, and move forward on the Baku Adaptation Roadmap.
• Cutting emissions: decide whether the programme on cutting emissions continues, and how it would work.
• Climate money: work out how to triple the money for adaptation that countries agreed last year and settle what the climate finance work programme will cover and deliver. The first step, he said, is deciding how it appears on the summit’s agenda, which needs all countries to engage.

A decision from the hosts

Türkiye and Australia, who are jointly leading the summit, plan to propose a decision that captures what COP31 agrees, Mr Stiell said. It will be based on the negotiated outcomes and will not interfere with the talks.

He also described the wider climate action agenda, with efforts on methane, access to finance and oceans, as voluntary. It supports the negotiations but does not replace them. These projects are led and paid for by the host countries, he said, and the UN climate secretariat supports them only within limits.

Agenda and budget

Mr Stiell urged countries to make sure the summit opens smoothly and agrees its agenda on time. The hosts and the chairs of the technical bodies are working with country groups to fit requests for extra agenda items into existing work, he said, and he asked the AGN and others to help.

He also warned about money for the UN climate secretariat. The United States’ withdrawal from the Convention has left a funding gap of TK percent, or TK million dollars for 2028-29. Even if extra funds are found, he said, the gap will affect how the secretariat divides its work.

SBs Chairs

Consultations involving the COP 31 Presidency (shared between Türkiye and Australia), the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) Chair Adonia Ayebare (Uganda), and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) Chair Julia Gardiner (Australia) focused on preparing the framework for COP31 in Antalya.

AGN Chair assured the two SBs Chair of the group’s support for the work ahead.