The first revamped Climate Week of 2025 concluded in Panama City last week, with valuable progress made and real-world solutions shared across vital areas of work.
“This Forum has served as much more than a venue just for discussion – it has been a springboard for solutions to climate action,” said UN Climate Change Deputy Executive Secretary, Noura Hamladji, in her closing remarks. “Our shared goal was to move from ambition to implementation, to ensure that we leave here knowing real change, and more climate action, is coming.”
The return of newly formatted Climate Weeks in 2025 was driven by the need for climate action to deliver real economy outcomes, faster, and at scale and to ensure implementation is people-centered and rooted in deep collaboration.
The new Climate Week format is also designed to align more closely with the work Parties have mandated under the Paris Agreement. Several mandated events progressed key discussions and issues, with next steps expected in the period ahead and at the upcoming UN June Climate Meetings (SB62) in Bonn.
“This Forum showed that while COPs are essential milestones, the hard work really happens in between them – and these sessions are part of the hard work in between,” said Hamladji. “At the heart of every session was a common thread: the need for collaboration between every part of society – governments, business, investors, city and state leaders, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society came with urgency and purpose.”
“COP30 must kickstart a new decade of implementation and climate action,” said Ana Toni, the National Secretary for Climate Change at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the CEO of COP30. “We owe it to future generations, who will look back and ask why we didn’t do better when we had the chance and knew the seriousness of climate change. The only choice we have is to act urgently and together.”
Juan Carlos Navarro, Panama’s Minister of Environment, called for immediate action.
“I ask and implore you that each of our countries take immediate, concrete actions to stop this devastating crisis, so that Belém may be a celebration of the great global climate consensus and of our unlimited possibilities as a planet and as a species,” said Navarro. “This is what we can achieve when we act together with the common good and our common home in mind.”
At the heart of the Climate Week was the new Implementation Forum – a first-of-its-kind platform to bring together all stakeholders to unlock progress across three critical pillars: finance, technology, and carbon markets.
Finance Lab
The Finance Lab made clear: global climate finance goals will only deliver real change if countries can access and manage funds, so financial innovation and institutional readiness are critical.
One of the key achievements was creating integrated country platforms to unlock finance. Participants called for enhanced country platforms (e.g. Integrated National Financing Frameworks) that align Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) with sectoral investment plans, supported by multi-ministry engagement, private sector integration, and public financial management reforms.
The Finance Lab also advanced locally led climate finance ecosystems. Participants emphasized the need to empower local actors (e.g. cooperatives, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples) through technical assistance, direct access modalities, and localised finance matchmaking tools.
“A dominant theme emerging through the week was the urgent need for innovative solutions to unlock climate finance, and drive real-world results and implementation,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. “It was great to see some outside-the-box solutions put forward, at new ‘solutions Labs’ events focused on finance, tech, and carbon markets, and we’ll continue to evolve our approach.”
Technology Lab
The Technology Lab urged participants to make innovation core business – with a focus on emerging solutions that are not only cutting-edge, but also accessible, equitable, and tailored to local contexts. For example, participants highlighted when AI is used responsibly, with consideration given to risks and challenges including employment impacts, it has a vast potential as a tool to achieve climate goals and accelerate progress.
Actions for transitioning to renewable energy deployment are taking place, but ensuring regulatory frameworks and skills, combined by alignment with the private sector is important.
UN Climate Change launched the AI for Climate Action Award 2025 – a global open-source competition to responsibly harness the power of artificial intelligence in delivering practical climate solutions all around the world.
Article 6/Carbon Markets Lab
The Article 6 and Carbon Markets Lab showcased their game-changing potential as powerful levers for turning ambitious climate targets into reality.
Speakers emphasised the importance of building on past successes – where real money and real emissions reductions were delivered. Now the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) is fully operational and ready to take delivery and impacts to the next level. But to fully realize its potential, dedicated technical assistance will be essential so that developing countries secure their fair share of resulting finance flows.
“COP30 must kickstart a new decade of implementation and climate action,” said Ana Toni, the National Secretary for Climate Change at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the CEO of COP30. “We owe it to future generations, who will look back and ask why we didn’t do better when we had the chance and knew the seriousness of climate change. The only choice we have is to act urgently and together.”
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
Climate Week also hosted the first NDC Clinic of the year – an in-person, capacity-building event that provided practical support to participating countries through the exchange of knowledge and experiences in key areas critical for NDC implementation.
Through facilitated peer learning and knowledge exchange, the NDC Clinic strengthened inter-ministerial coordination and engagement with key national stakeholders – enhancing collaboration and improving knowledge on how to best access finance at the national level.
The Clinic helped participants gain:
- Better understanding of the key policy, financial and technical actions associated with the investment planning process for NDC implementation.
- Improved capacity to assess progress, gaps, and opportunities to advance investment planning within the national and regional contexts.
- Increased familiarity with the support available from development, multilateral banks, financial institutions, bilateral donors, and other partners to facilitate investment planning for NDC implementation.
- Enhanced understanding of the strategies to attract private capital and engage private investors, including incentives, risk mitigation approaches, and blended finance.
Adaptation
An event related to adaptation helped participants better understand updated National Adaptation Plan (NAP) technical guidelines and how to apply them. The event went through the updated NAP technical guidelines in detail, including the NAP table of contents, achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation targets through NAPs, scaled-up implementation and financing, and effective implementation and resource mobilisation. The event also featured pathways for applying and using the updated technical guidelines depending on countries’ progress.
Participation
Climate Week saw strong international participation with over 1,000 participants, from 109 countries – with around two-thirds in person in Panama City, and one-third taking part virtually.
The next Climate Week
The next Climate Week – the second of the two Climate Weeks taking place in 2025 – is expected to be held in Africa, and will focus on unlocking finance for implementation, helping drive investment where it’s most needed, building on the momentum gained in Panama.
Other events
In addition to the events described above, several other mandated events took place during the first Climate Week in Panama:
- Fifth global dialogue and investment-focused event under the Sharm el-Sheikh mitigation ambition and implementation work programme
- Global DNA Forum on Article 6 implementation
- Future of the Climate Action Agenda. COP30 Presidency event
- From Call to Mobilisation: Bringing the Global Mutirão Framework to Life. COP30 Presidency Event
- Unlocking Opportunities: Enhancing NDC Ambition for a Sustainable and Just Future
- From Global Mandates to National Action: Advancing Synergies Between the Climate and Biodiversity Agendas. Special event by Colombia
- Third Dialogue under the United Arab Emirates just transition work programme.