From Yeosu to Baku, Translating 2026 Climate Commitments Into Real-World Solutions
Last April, governments, businesses, cities, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, international organizations and civil society gathered in Yeosu, Republic of Korea, for UN Climate Week 3 (CW3), to show how climate action has now entered the era of implementation.
These lessons are already feeding directly into UN Climate Week 4 (CW4), which started on 7 September and runs until 11 September 2026, in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is designed to close the climate loop of the year, consolidating the real-economy solutions showcased in Yeosu into a delivery-ready agenda before the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) opens in Antalya in Türkiye.
The central question in Yeosu was no longer what needs to be done. The world already knows that emissions must be reduced, resilience strengthened and vulnerable communities supported. Instead, the nearly 1,500 participants focused on a more practical challenge: how to turn climate plans into solutions that work in the real world, attract investment, deliver benefits for people and can be replicated at scale, becoming part of the real economy.
“To speed up and scale up, we must work together to turn commitments into more real-world implementation, delivering real benefits for people, communities and economies,” said Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary in his opening remarks in Yeosu.
As part of the Paris Agreement, many countries have developed their climate strategies through their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). However, transforming these commitments into concrete projects remains a challenge for some countries.
Several countries and institutions presented practical solutions to bridge this gap.
For example, representatives from Brazil showcased the Climate Investment Platform, a country-led mechanism that identifies priority projects and connects them with financing partners. By bringing together ministries, development banks, climate funds and private investors, the platform has already mobilised around $5 billion for 18 projects. The model offers a practical pathway for countries seeking to transform climate plans into investment pipelines.
Participants from Cambodia presented another innovative approach through the Climate Financing Facility, a blended finance mechanism anchored within a national public financial institution. Rather than creating parallel structures, the facility uses existing national institutions to channel finance towards priority climate investments while attracting private sector participation.
These examples demonstrate that climate implementation is increasingly about building the financial architecture that can support long-term transformation, but also that climate solutions are already underway and are already delivering results, such as in Nepal, where community forestry programmes have transformed forest management over the last three decades. More than 23,000 local forest user groups now manage over 2.4 million hectares of forest. The result has been increased forest cover, improved livelihoods, stronger biodiversity protection and greater climate resilience.
In coastal Bangladesh, climate-resilient water systems are helping communities adapt to rising climate risks. Combining rainwater harvesting, solar-powered infrastructure, water filtration systems and women-led governance mechanisms, the programme now benefits more than one million people. Importantly, it integrates adaptation, renewable energy and social inclusion into one coherent package.
Pakistan presented its National Biochar Accelerator Programme, which transforms agricultural waste into biochar (an organic charcoal product made out of biomass) while generating economic opportunities for rural communities. The initiative reduces emissions, improves soil health and creates new revenue streams, illustrating how climate action can also support economic development.
Clean Energy Requires More Than Technology
Renewable energy was a major theme throughout the week. However, discussions repeatedly highlighted that solar panels and wind turbines alone are not enough.
Participants emphasised the importance of enabling systems such as modern electricity grids, energy storage, supportive regulations, workforce development and affordable finance.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlighted grid modernisation as one of the most urgent priorities for accelerating the energy transition. As renewable energy deployment accelerates, many countries are discovering that grid infrastructure is becoming the main bottleneck rather than generation technology itself.
The Global Offshore Wind Alliance presented practical approaches to helping emerging markets develop offshore wind industries through policy certainty, concessional finance and partnerships between governments, investors and industry.
The discussions made clear that successful energy transitions depend on integrated systems rather than isolated projects.
Innovation and Digital Tools Accelerating Climate Action
Among the key innovations that emerged during CW3 were participants exploring how artificial intelligence, digital platforms and advanced data systems are already supporting climate implementation. Examples included AI-assisted reforestation, climate risk modelling, satellite monitoring and digital decision-support tools.
Particular attention was given to ensuring that developing countries can benefit from these innovations. The Technology Mechanism Initiative on AI for Climate Action aims to support Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States through capacity building, knowledge sharing and locally adapted applications.
At the same time, participants stressed that technology must remain accessible, transparent and people-centered. Digital solutions can accelerate implementation, but only if countries and communities have the capacity to use them effectively.
That balance continued directly into CW4. This session focused on keeping climate information accurate despite the impact of AI, discussing how to safely scale the digital tools shown in Yeosu. It also covered the new Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) portal and a test project, the Net-Zero Recognition Framework, used to track climate promises made by cities and companies.
Climate Action Works Best When it is Locally Driven
Finally, across adaptation, loss and damage, food systems and social development, one lesson emerged repeatedly from that week in Yeosu, independently from the topic: solutions are most effective when they are grounded in local realities.
Knowledge holders and practitioners from Indigenous Peoples and local communities shared experiences and solutions developed through generations of environmental stewardship. Their contributions highlighted the importance of combining scientific knowledge with traditional and local knowledge systems.
Examples shared from Bhutan, small island states and mountain regions demonstrated how locally-led approaches can better capture the realities communities face and help design responses that reflect local priorities.
UN Climate Week 3 in Yeosu showed that this transformation is already underway, by presenting solutions that were not theoretical concepts, but operational models already delivering measurable impacts, designed to be shared, replicated and scaled.
Baku Picks Up Where Yeosu Left Off
CW3's themes carry straight into CW4's agenda. For example, Brazil and Cambodia's financing models fed into an implementation lab on climate finance for agriculture and food systems, as well as a COP31 Presidency session on access to finance. The energy-systems work from IRENA and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance continued in a lab on decarbonising construction and heavy industries.
The week ran from an opening ceremony on 9 September to a high-level dialogue on transparency, a “Final Mile” workshop to support parties finishing their Biennial Transparency reports, the 2026 Adaptation Forum and a Regional National Designated Entities Forum for Eastern Europe, to only mention a few – all building towards COP31 in Antalya and the second Global Stocktake (GST2).
This story was originally published by UNFCCC.
