UN Climate Change News, 12 November2026 - A new UN Climate Change report brings together the discussions held under the Sharm el-Sheikh mitigation ambition and implementation work programme, highlighting key findings, opportunities and barriers identified during the discussions for accelerating mitigation action in industries.
The annual report of the work programme compiles the reports on the seventh and eighth global dialogues and investment-focused events, including their Pitch Hub sessions, held in Yeosu, Republic of Korea, in April and in Sydney, Australia, in September respectively.
The two dialogues focused on enabling mitigation ambition and implementation in industries, drawing on national and regional experiences, while the eighth dialogue also explored cross-cutting issues relevant to scaling up mitigation action.
Across the discussions, participants explored broad approaches to industrial decarbonization, the wider conditions that can enable their implementation, and opportunities and barriers related to mobilizing investment.
Diverse approaches to industrial decarbonziation
Discussions under the work programme throughout the year have reflected the diversity of industrial sectors and national circumstances, and the wide range of approaches being considered to advance decarbonization in industries. Discussions also highlighted that scaling up industrial climate action requires more than technological solutions, pointing to the importance of supportive policies, access to finance, enabling infrastructure and institutional capacity.
Participants discussed combinations of technological options and opportunities that could be sequenced according to factors including national circumstances, technological readiness, resource availability and existing industrial structures. Near-term options raised included energy efficiency improvements, electrification of industrial processes, renewable energy, fuel and feedstock switching and the usage of alternative materials. Carbon capture, use and storage and green hydrogen were identified as important for hard-to-abate sectors over the medium and longer term.
Participants also discussed industrial decarbonization from whole-of systems lens, bringing together technological innovation with enabling infrastructure, supportive policy and regulatory frameworks, institutional coordination and creating demand for low-carbon industrial products. Discussions also highlighted the challenges of moving beyond isolated pilot projects towards deployment at scale.
The dialogue also explored connections between industrial transformation and wider economic and development priorities. Participants discussed opportunities related to industrial competitiveness, economic diversification, energy security, job creation and new value chains, while emphasizing that national circumstances, development priorities and existing assets shape different industrial decarbonization journeys.
Mobilizing finance and supporting implementation
The two investment-focused events held alongside the global dialogues complemented the dialogues by examining the investment dimensions of advancing industrial mitigation, including the opportunities and barriers involved in moving mitigation solutions towards implementation as well as the scale of the financing challenge.
Participants considered how policy, financial and institutional frameworks can support investment and implementation, including approaches to move beyond individual projects towards deployment at scale. The discussions also explored investment alongside the technological and broader enabling conditions for industrial transformation.
The investment-focused events also brought a practical project-level dimension to these discussions. Both events featured Pitch Hub sessions, providing project proponents with an opportunity to present concrete projects and engage with financial advisers on ways to strengthen their proposals and investment readiness.
The potential of these exchanges was illustrated in Sydney, where Malang Sambou Manneh of the Mbolo Association in The Gambia shared the experience of a solar-powered composting project that secured European Union grant funding following its presentation at an earlier Pitch Hub.
Looking ahead to COP31
The annual report was prepared by the UN Climate Change secretariat under the guidance of the co-chairs of the work programme, Angela Churie Kallhauge of Sweden and Gao Xiang of China. It is intended to reflect in a comprehensive and balanced manner the discussions held during the seventh and eighth Global Dialogues and Investment-Focused Events.
The annual report will inform discussions as Parties consider the continuation of the work programme at CMA 8 during COP31.
Read the full report
