Guterres Demands $1.3tn in Real Climate Finance at COP31

The United Nations Secretary-General has put a hard number on the table at COP31: $1.3 trillion in climate finance for developing countries, anchored by at least $300 billion a year from developed economies by 2035.

Speaking at the World Leaders Summit of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Türkiye, on Wednesday, António Guterres said the headline ambition means nothing unless it turns into actual flows.

"The $1.3tn goal must become real finance flowing to developing countries and this demands that every source of finance pull its weight," Guterres said. He called on developed countries to "set out concrete plans with clear milestones to at least triple adaptation finance" by 2035.

For practitioners, that demand lands on a stark imbalance. Emerging and developing economies outside China hold nearly two-thirds of the world's population but attract less than one-fifth of global clean energy investment — and many of them borrow at rates two to three times higher than their developed peers.

What did Guterres say about emissions and the 1.5C target?

Global emissions must fall roughly 6% annually, Guterres said, yet 2025 emissions hit an all-time high and the last four years were the hottest on record. He acknowledged that a temporary overshoot of the 1.5C Paris limit is now scientifically inevitable, but framed it as a call to action, not surrender.

"The truth is that we have the power to determine how high, how long and how devastating that overshoot will be," he said. "We have the power to make sure the overshoot is a temporary breach, not a permanent sentence."

He named three lessons from the past decade: renewables' rapid growth, the collapsing economic case for fossil fuels, and the slow pace of global climate action. Solar power, which supplied only 1% of global electricity a decade ago, now meets a major share of rising demand, while electric vehicles keep gaining market share.

"Three-quarters of humanity live in countries that import fossil fuels. Hostage to price shocks they did not create and they cannot control," Guterres said, arguing that "fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs" — while noting that "the dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do."

His transition ask was specific: end new coal development, cut methane emissions, and expand grids, storage and clean electrification. He also demanded taxes on windfall fossil fuel profits, citing an imbalance of scale: the nine largest oil companies booked $95 billion in profits last quarter, while the Loss and Damage Fund has received roughly $600 million — what those companies earn in about 14 hours.

What did the host-side leaders bring?

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, leading negotiations alongside Türkiye's hosting arrangement, pressed for practical results for Pacific island states. He cited Tuvalu, whose islands average just 1.83 metres above sea level, and read a message from 13-year-old student Melalusi Soketia: "We are not asking for pity, we are asking for help and partnership."

On delivered capacity, Albanese said Australia has doubled renewable electricity generation in six years, with renewables now supplying half the electricity mix, and more than 600,000 home batteries installed in the past year.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose country hosts COP32 in 2027, framed climate action as economic policy. "In Ethiopia, climate action is economic policy," he said, noting that over 90% of the country's electricity comes from hydropower. Ethiopia is adding wind, solar and geothermal capacity, using satellites and AI for weather forecasting, has planted more than 56 billion seedlings under its Green Legacy Initiative, and has banned imports of petrol- and diesel-powered cars.

His challenge to financiers set the accountability bar: "How much? By when? On what terms? The answers must be clear enough for a government to budget, an investor to commit, and a community to prepare."

The milestone to watch now is whether developed countries table concrete 2035 delivery plans with tripling of adaptation finance — or whether the $1.3 trillion stays an ambition on paper.