As prepared for delivery.

His Excellency, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30,  

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,  

We are pleased to co-host this conversation today with the COP30 Presidency. 

As we meet here at COP31, we should keep one reality at the forefront of our discussions: 

Climate action only matters if it changes people's lives. 

This was at the heart of the COP30 vision: to connect climate action to people’s priorities. 

At COP31, UNDP continues to call for inclusivity, solutions and actions that come from the communities. 

Because effective climate action is not only about who benefits from it. It’s about who shapes it.  

We can see this shift in the new generation of NDCs, 96 per cent of which now integrate considerations of gender equality and social inclusion.

But inclusion in the plan does not guarantee inclusion in the investment. 

This is what COP31 is about: turning climate commitments into implementation. 

And achieving that change requires finance at scale.  

Finance that responds to country priorities and reaches the people and communities closest to the solutions. 

This matters enormously, because lasting progress depends on locally led action. 

Take the energy transition. 

The renewable energy workforce is expected to triple by 20302, creating millions of new opportunities - particularly for young people and women. 

Realizing this potential requires skills, finance and pathways to scale local solutions.3 

This is where international cooperation has a critical role to play. 

Through the Climate Promise: Forward, the UN System is jointly supporting countries to turn climate commitments into implementation pathways. 

This will also be the focus of the UNDP’s corporate event tomorrow, ‘Financing NDC implementation through Climate Promise: Forward”. 

Because implementation is the bridge between what we promise and what people experience: connecting people with finance, communities with opportunity and ambition with delivery. 

This Tri-COP year has reinforced a shift from negotiations to implementation, around a common message: integrated and inclusive action on climate, nature and land delivers more lasting benefits for people and communities. 

At the UNCCD COP in Mongolia, land restoration was framed as a pathway to livelihoods and resilience, while expanding youth participation in land management. 

At the CBD COP in Armenia, countries committed to scaling up biodiversity finance, with particular recognition of the role of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and youth.  

COP31 provides an important opportunity to build on this momentum, with synergies featured as a dedicated theme within the Action Agenda. 

As we move forward, let us measure the success of climate action by its impact on people’s lives: whether it creates opportunities for youth, expands access to finance for women and delivers clean energy for all. 

COP30 helped bring people closer to the centre of the climate process. 

Now we need to bring the resources closer to the people. 

The UN is ready to help build that bridge. 

Thank you.