The revised Climate Week in Panama may trigger fast-tracking of climate progress.
In a significant move towards accelerating global climate action, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell underscored the revamped Climate Weeks’ clear purpose: “to fast-track the journey from ambition to implementation.
He signaled a clear shift towards practical climate solutions by highlighting the necessity of making real economic progress the driving force behind climate success at the opening of the first of the recently revised Climate Weeks in Panama City.
“This new format aims to address concerns that previous Climate Weeks had become disconnected from the intergovernmental process, focusing instead on delivering tangible outcomes in line with the Paris Agreement,” he said.
The new structure is built around four core priorities:
Efficiency: Clustering mandated events to save time, costs, and carbon.
Implementation: Creating space to advance concrete, real-world solutions.
Inclusivity: Ensuring diverse perspectives are heard.
Momentum: Establishing strategic milestones between negotiation sessions to accelerate action.
A central feature of the revamped Climate Week is the new Implementation Forum, described as a first-of-its-kind platform. This forum will bring together governments, multilateral development banks, investors, businesses, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples to unlock progress across three critical pillars: finance, technology, and carbon markets.
During the forum, the “AI for Climate Action Award” will be launched, aimed at leveraging technology and human ingenuity to accelerate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
While acknowledging significant progress in averting a 5°C heating scenario, Stiell warned that the current trajectory of 2.7°C still represents a “catastrophe.” He stressed the urgent need for “hard work now” to correct the course towards the 1.5°C target and greater climate resilience.
Stiell also addressed external challenges facing the UN system, including fiscal tightening and skepticism towards international cooperation. He emphasized that the response must be “emphatic,” delivering “more efficiency, more impact, and more inclusivity” to demonstrate real value.
He emphasized the importance of demonstrating that promises lead to practice, that multilateralism works, and that climate action delivers. He urged a shift “beyond a meeting mindset—toward a movement for implementation,” calling on attendees to transform Climate Weeks from spaces for dialogue into platforms for delivery.
