The following is a transcript of a video message delivered by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell during the high-level opening of the UNFCCC's fourth Climate Week in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday 9 September 2026.
Excellencies, colleagues, friends,
It is a pleasure to join you virtually in Baku for the opening of the fourth UNFCCC Climate Week.
I thank the Government of Azerbaijan for hosting us again with such commitment and purpose.
Baku holds a hugely important place in the recent history of international climate cooperation.
At COP29, countries agreed a new global climate finance goal of 300 billion dollars a year by 2035, and called on all actors to work together to scale up climate finance from public and private sources to at least 1.3 trillion dollars a year by 2035.
The Baku to Belém Roadmap carried this work forward, with practical steps to make finance flow where it is needed most.
For me, returning to Baku goes beyond symbolism.
It is a reference point for delivery.
A test of whether the promises made in negotiating rooms become projects, investments and real protection for people on the ground.
That is the central task now.
We know climate cooperation is working.
Without it, humanity would be heading towards catastrophic levels of heating.
With it, we are still in the fight.
And across the real economy, transformation is accelerating.
Clean energy investment now exceeds two trillion dollars a year.
Renewables have overtaken coal as the world's top source of electricity, and that gap will keep growing.
The transition to clean energy is irreversible.
But climate impacts are advancing just as fast.
Every region is being hit harder by heat, floods, drought, fires and food insecurity. And every economy is exposed. So every fraction of a degree matters.
That is why, from this Climate Week through to COP31 and beyond, we must drive the promise of the Paris Agreement further and faster.
That means delivering strong outcomes across every aspect of our work, especially on putting people and communities at the centre of these huge transitions.
And it means driving implementation through the Action Agenda - connecting governments with businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil society - making deals and turning plans into projects.
This week is designed to do exactly that: bring these actors together to accelerate solutions, partnerships and investment.
At its heart is the Implementation Forum - a space to identify investable solutions, remove bottlenecks and drive action on the ground.
Because implementation happens in boardrooms as well as cabinet rooms; in cities, industries and communities too.
The priorities ahead are practical and urgent: electrification, including grids and storage; zero waste and food security; methane; resilient and efficient cities; and stronger action on the climate risks to human health, and many more.
These are not abstract themes.
They are about clean, reliable power; lower costs; safer homes; stronger food systems; healthier communities; and more secure economies - results that people can see and feel.
So let us use these days well - moving decisively towards implementation; and once again in Baku showing that the world chooses delivery over delay.
I wish you a successful Climate Week.
Thank you.
