TUVALU, October 9 — UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed urged accelerated climate action at a pre-COP meeting in Tuvalu and Fiji, warning that while the world is on track to exceed the 1.5°C warming limit, overshoot should not lead to surrender. Speaking in Tuvalu, she stated, ‘Overshoot is not a reason to surrender,’ calling instead for efforts to make any temperature overshoot ‘as short and small as possible’ and to bring global temperatures back below 1.5°C as quickly as feasible.
She emphasized the need to deliver on commitments made at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, including transitioning away from fossil fuels, tripling global renewable energy capacity, and doubling energy efficiency by 2030. Mohammed linked renewable energy expansion to energy security, noting that clean power could improve maternal health and education outcomes for the 655 million people still without electricity.
She also urged stronger adaptation measures, including expanded early warning systems for extreme weather, resilient infrastructure, secure water supplies, and healthy ecosystems, citing ongoing efforts in Pacific communities to strengthen coastal resilience and restore marine ecosystems.
On finance, she reiterated that developed countries should lead in mobilizing climate finance, pointing to the Baku to Belém Roadmap, which aims to mobilize at least $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for developing countries by 2035, and stressed that funding must be accessible, stating that ‘a small island ministry with a handful of staff should be able to reach concessional finance quickly and simply.’ The pre-COP gathering in Tuvalu and Fiji brought together senior government figures and top policymakers from Pacific island nations facing severe climate impacts, including rising seas and intensifying floods, to set the agenda for COP31.
Mohammed concluded by urging leaders to ‘keep the promise of Paris, fight harder, and make the tragic overshoot as small and short as possible.’ The COP31 climate summit is scheduled to take place in Türkiye in November 2026.
