BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. COP31 in Antalya should become a conference focused on implementing climate commitments, COP30 CEO Ana Toni said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
She made the remark while addressing the opening ceremony of the Fourth Climate Week of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (CW4) in Baku. "We can promise many things, but if we do not implement these promises, we will not change the world that needs to be changed, and obviously we will not protect the people we need to protect," Toni said.
She noted that COP30 had three main objectives: strengthening multilateralism, accelerating the implementation of climate solutions, and expanding public participation in climate action. "At COP30, we believe that, despite the very challenging geopolitics we are facing today, we have made progress on multilateralism. We adopted 56 decisions by consensus among 194 countries. This is no small achievement at this moment that we are all experiencing," Toni said.
According to her, within the framework of the second objective, a five-year action plan was agreed to ensure more consistent participation of different groups in the climate agenda. "Together, we were able to agree on five-year plans for the Action Agenda," she noted.
Toni stressed that climate action should not be limited to annual UN conferences. "We cannot simply move from one COP to another, meeting once a year for two weeks in such beautiful cities as Baku and the future Antalya. Climate action, however, must happen every day," she said.
In this regard, she described climate weeks as an important tool for continuing work between COP conferences, stressing that their participants should include not only negotiators but also other stakeholders.
Speaking about the role of the private sector, Toni emphasized that climate investments should not be viewed as an end in themselves, but rather as a means to improve quality of life. "We talked about investments — this is important, but investments are a means to an end, and the goal is to create jobs, improve people's well-being, and that is why climate change really matters," she said.
Toni also noted that the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly visible, while exceeding the 1.5°C threshold is already becoming a reality.
"But we have the opportunity to use solutions to reduce the duration and extent of this overshoot. It is in our hands to change the situation," the COP30 CEO stressed.
She added that the transition toward practical implementation of climate solutions creates opportunities for various sectors of the economy and society, as the world must address both decarbonization and climate adaptation challenges simultaneously.
CW4 is being held in Baku until September 11 under the organization of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The event discusses the practical implementation of climate decisions, expanding international cooperation, and further strengthening global climate action ahead of COP31.
Representatives of governments, international organizations, expert communities, financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society are participating in the events.
Baku Climate Week is focused on climate change mitigation, energy transition, renewable energy, sustainable development, and accelerating climate action.
