The following is a transcript of remarks delivered by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the Seventh biennial high-level ministerial dialogue on climate finance at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, on 13 November 2026.
Excellencies, friends,
It's a pleasure to be here for the last in this series of Dialogues - which will feed into COP32.
And I thank the COP31 Presidency, and the co-Chairs for bringing us together.
In Cancun, countries agreed on the $100 billion climate finance goal. Much has been done since then.
And new goals were set out at COP29: $300 billion per year with developed countries taking the lead. And all actors working together to enable the scaling-up of financing for developing countries, from all sources, to 1.3 trillion dollars per year. Both by 2035.
We have a pathway to get there: the Baku to Belem Roadmap - which must become a reality.
But meeting a financial target does not always meet countries' needs.
To do that, we need to look at how finance is delivered.
Many developing countries are trapped in a downward loop of debt, disaster, and devastating capital costs.
The threat of floods, fires, storms and droughts hangs over them - pushing up the price of borrowing even before disaster strikes.
And when shocks hit, revenues fall, recovery costs soar, debt rises.
That leaves less to invest in building climate resilience - to protect people and economies.
And so, the spiral continues.
Climate finance must help countries break free.
But that demands moving from financing individual projects. To supporting economic transformation.
So that climate finance builds a positive feedback loop: Strengthening national institutions. Which creates better investment conditions. Which attracts more capital at less cost. Which can be invested in resilience, and low-emissions development. Which strengthens economies. Attracting more investment.
So how do we get there?
First, delivery must respond to debt.
Terms must meet countries where they are: Reflecting their circumstances and debt sustainability. Finance must be affordable.
But there's no catch-all approach.
Private finance, loans and guarantees are essential to achieving our collective goals.
But grant-based and highly concessional finance will remain critical, particularly for our Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and other vulnerable economies.
We also need wider efforts to address debt. So that countries are not forced to choose between repayment and resilience.
Second, finance must be easier to access.
Today, developing countries must hack through a thicket of complex requirements, and administrative tasks.
To meet funding windows across fragmented programs, and institutions.
We need procedures simplified.
Financial institutions coordinating.
And administrative burdens eased.
Third, climate finance must align with countries, not the other way around.
Countries have domestic systems to finance development. They do it every day: National treasuries, local governments, development banks, and financial institutions.
These should be strengthened, not bypassed.
And it means using climate finance to bolster them: Taking countries' leads. To build capacity - helping to create institutions, and systems, that can access finance, and deploy it effectively.
Meanwhile, we must keep developing and transferring technologies that support resilient, low-emissions development.
Fourth, cooperation must align finance, technology and capacity-building around countries' priorities: Turning plans and priorities into investments and projects, that strengthen resilience and change lives.
We need deliberate coordination between countries, climate funds, development banks, financial institutions and investors.
With every project building on the last.
For example, early grant support can build institutional capacity and investment pipelines.
Concessional finance and risk-sharing instruments can help projects scale.
Our international process can support these efforts: Providing a space to crowd-in finance around country priorities.
So excellencies,
This must be a new chapter of climate finance.
These dialogues can help make that a reality.
Since they were established in 2013, they have driven progress.
Now, we need them to advance a new approach.
Where every dollar invested in development builds a better future. For all countries.
I thank you.
