Businesses, cities and investors are stepping up efforts to tackle climate change, but more work is needed to turn their commitments into measurable results.
According to the 2026 Yearbook of Global Climate Action, published by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) during the opening day of COP31, there progress across 44 global indicators and 83 cooperative climate initiatives, showing how non-state actors are contributing to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
It says 84 per cent of plans designed to accelerate climate solutions reported progress after one year of implementation, indicating that collaborative initiatives are helping move climate commitments towards action.
The yearbook organises climate action into six areas covering energy and transport, forests and biodiversity, agriculture and food systems, cities and infrastructure, human development, and the financial and technological support needed to implement climate solutions.
In the energy sector, renewable energy capacity increased by 17 per cent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 5,149 gigawatts globally. Renewable sources also overtook coal in electricity generation for the first time in 2025, supplying 33.8 per cent of global electricity compared with coal’s 33 per cent. Electric vehicles accounted for a quarter of global light-duty vehicle sales in 2025, while public charging points exceeded seven million.
Efforts to protect forests, oceans and biodiversity are also producing mixed results. Global deforestation declined by nearly 14 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year, while the area under active ecosystem restoration increased to 11.8 million hectares from 10.6 million hectares in 2024. Marine protected areas expanded to cover 10 per cent of the world’s oceans in 2025, up from 8.4 per cent in 2024.
But forest degradation remains a major concern. The area affected increased from 63 million hectares in 2022 to 65.4 million hectares in 2024. Forests also receive less than one per cent of global climate finance, leaving an estimated annual financing gap of $66.8 billion.
In agriculture, the report identifies progress in reducing emissions intensity from livestock digestion and rice cultivation, alongside improvements in global food security. The proportion of people experiencing undernourishment declined from 9.1 per cent in 2023 to 7.8 per cent in 2025.
However, food losses remained at 13 per cent of production between 2021 and 2023. The report also identifies a lack of global indicators tracking how resilient food systems are to climate shocks and how much climate finance reaches small-scale farmers.
It highlights regenerative agriculture, soil conservation, sustainable forestry and fisheries restoration as approaches that can improve resilience while supporting farmers’ livelihoods.
Urban areas are another important focus, particularly as cities face growing exposure to flooding, water shortages, extreme heat and other climate risks.
Climate action is also creating economic opportunities, although the benefits remain unevenly distributed. Renewable energy employment reached 16.6 million jobs in 2024, up from 16.2 million the previous year. However, women accounted for only 32 per cent of renewable energy jobs, a share that remained unchanged between 2024 and 2025.
The report also highlights the need to strengthen climate-resilient health systems, education, skills development and social protection, particularly for communities exposed to climate-related risks.
The yearbook identifies climate finance, technology, institutional capacity and private investment as essential to accelerating implementation. Global climate finance exceeded $2 trillion in 2024, with growth in both public and private investment. However, adaptation finance declined from $81.5 billion in 2022 to $64.1 billion in 2024, highlighting the difficulty of directing sufficient resources towards protecting communities and economies from climate impacts.
The report argues that countries need stronger institutional capacity to develop investment-ready projects, attract private capital and connect climate priorities with available funding.
The findings come as governments meet in Antalya, Türkiye, for the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), which runs from November 9 to 20.
The yearbook is intended to complement formal government negotiations by tracking action from businesses, investors, cities, regional authorities and civil society organisations.
