Remarks by the President of the General Assembly
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Third High-level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance
15 November 2025, Belém, Brazil,
[As delivered]
Thank you very much,
Excellencies,
Ministers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
What better place to meet than here in this beautiful town of Belém and in your country Brazil on the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, and the birthplace of the UNFCCC.
Just as the UN Charter remains our north star for multilateralism, and the same counts for the Paris Agreement which remains our north star for climate action.
So yes, this is also a moment of celebration of the opening of the 80th session of the United Nations, looking at the world today we are not really in a celebratory mood but this is a moment for reflection and even more engagement.
But we should never forget, especially if there are some people out there using this situation to question multilateralism or even the climate agreement, that by joint commitments we have achieved over the last 10 years.
Our north star of the Paris Agreement has guided us from projections of 4 degrees of warming by 2100 to between 2.3 and 2.8 today — this is progress , without the agreement we would still be facing 4 degrees of growth, but still far from the 1.5-degree goal we set in Paris.
We have also moved from an era only 10 years ago in which some even laughed about the renewable technologies.
Many of you have been there in climate negotiations in Paris, renewable energy was only invention once, and we have discussed that it’s costly and it’s unrealistic.
Today, it is a single fastest growing source of new energy.
And even as renewable energies are on the rise globally, we are far from realizing their full potential, and aligning financing with our goals remains our greatest challenge.
The annual financing gap for the SDGs in total currently stands at 4 trillion US dollars.
And on climate specifically, Article 9 and New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 called on developed countries to provide 300 billion US dollars annually in climate finance.
Therefore, as has been said, COP30 must be where the world begins implementing this new goal in full, ensuring that commitments translate into disbursements that reach those most in need – swiftly, transparently, and fairly.
The good news is that the solutions exist. The technologies are here, and they’re affordable, different than 10 years ago.
In our world of abundance, it is not money as such that is the problem.
The question is rather how and where money is invested.
And since this is a room full of finance experts, let’s talk numbers.
In 2024, global investment in clean energy reached 2 trillion US dollars, 800 billion more than in fossil fuels.
Renewables accounted for 90% of new power capacity, and solar energy became the cheapest electricity in history, different than 10 years ago when you had to heavily subsidize solar and now fossils have to subsidize against lower trade.
And this is not just good for the planet — it’s good for profit.
But despite this progress, vast potential remains untapped because capital still isn’t flowing where it’s needed most, especially in Africa.
In Paris, the world pledged to help developing nations deploy renewable energy and electrify Africa — a continent rich in sunlight yet starved for power.
And on that goal, we have to be frank that the world did not deliver.
Today, over 600 million Africans still live without electricity, even though the continent’s renewable potential is 50 times greater than the world’s projected electricity demand for 2040.
Yet in 2024, Africa added only 4.2 gigawatts of renewable capacity — compared to 421 gigawatts in Asia.
And this is happening on a continent with the youngest and fastest-growing population on Earth — where 60% of people are under the age of 25.
So the question is not whether the money or the potential exists — but how to channel it to where it’s needed most.
And this is not only on the African continent.
Public financing alone cannot close the gap.
Building on the commitments of developed countries, all actors — public and private — must now mobilize the 1.3 trillion US dollars needed each year for climate action.
Unlocking this potential requires dismantling barriers that hold back capital flows.
We know investors want to invest, and governments want to collaborate.
What’s missing is an enabling environment built on trust and cooperation.
That means modern financial frameworks, as discussed in Sevilla.
It means scaled-up international funds, and the removal of restrictions that stifle innovation, as we outlined in the Sevilla Commitment on Financing for Sustainable Development.
We have to come out of the silos to implement these different commitments.
Developing countries, for their part, can strengthen domestic capacity — maintaining stability, improving infrastructure, and creating regulatory frameworks that de-risk and attract investment.
Developed countries, in turn, have to deliver on the promises of technological and financial support they have done over and over again and reform financial institutions.
Without that, we won’t be able to deliver on climate and social justice.
And we have to remember, investing in climate resilience is not an act of charity — it is an investment in global prosperity, stability, and universal human rights, but also the future of economic development.
As I am coming from the Second World Social Summit for Social Development in Doha, allow me to emphasize: climate action and social justice are inseparable.
Climate insecurity fuels hunger and poverty; poverty drives migration and conflict; and conflict, in turn, deepens poverty and deters investment.
So therefore, to break the vicious cycle, we have to deliver on the climate goals.
If we’re not breaking this cycle and not delivering on the climate goals, the Sustainable Development Goals — from education and equality to peace and prosperity cannot be reached.
Leaders recognized this here in Belém with the Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and People-Centered Climate Action, endorsed by 44 parties, and I highly applaud you for this.
It affirmed that combatting the climate crisis is not a “nice to have”.
It is the foundation of peace, prosperity, and security — and in the interest of all states and stakeholders, including the private sector.
As President Lula said, Belém must be a COP of truth and a COP of implementation.
So let’s remember Paris 10 years ago, nobody knew at the beginning we could go home and celebrate, but in the end we did, many of us cried because this was historic.
We always have to remember in these fragmented geopolitical times that despite the struggles, we must all cooperate together.
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