Chapter 8 - International climate action

The EU plays a significant role in advancing global action to achieve the Paris Agreement goals by working both at international and bilateral level. Its impact encompasses financial support, negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, diplomatic engagement, capacity building, and regulatory leadership.

Multilateral engagement

The past year has seen the EU engaging in several high-level and technical international meetings to push for a higher level of ambition at global level in climate negotiations, to increase transparency, mobilise resources and to share knowledge on climate action amid an increasingly volatile geopolitical context.

In October 2025, the Commission and the High Representative presented an international strategy for securing Europe's place in global markets. The new EU global climate and energy vision presents the EU's offer to the world: using diplomacy to protect our core interests, promoting standards for a fair transition by assisting our partners to develop theirs, and addressing the new security threats and challenges that endanger both European interests and those of our partners.

Implementing the Paris Agreement

The EU engaged constructively at COP29 in Azerbaijan to achieve the main mandates set for the conference. Parties agreed on a new post-2025 collective quantified goal on climate finance, which outlines that developed will take the lead in providing and mobilising at least USD 300 billion per year by 2035 for developing countries for climate action, from a wide variety of sources, with developing countries encouraged to make contributions on a voluntary basis. The new goal is complemented by a call to all actors to work together to enable the scaling up of finance for developing countries from all public and private sources, to at least USD 1.3 trillion annually.

Another key outcome was the finalisation of the rulebook for carbon markets (under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement). In promoting transparent and high-integrity cooperations, these rules will help countries raise and achieve their climate targets.

On 21 November 2024, the EU submitted its first biennial transparency report. The report details the progress made to reach the 2030 target and progress in assessing the effects of EU climate policies and measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to climate change. It also details the contributions made to international capacity building and climate finance. See Chapter 5 of accompanying staff working document for more details.

The Biennial Transparency Report is available on the UNFCCC website.

Under the UNFCCC mitigation work programme, the EU shared best practices and mitigation solutions for buildings and urban systems (4^th Global Dialogue and Investment Focused Events in October 2024) and for the forest sector (5^th Global Dialogue and Investment Focused Events in May 2025). As part of the Just Transition Work programme, the EU participated in two Just Transition Dialogues to share experiences and good practices on just climate resilience and just energy transition pathways.

On climate adaptation, the EU actively engaged with other countries to make progress under the UAE-Belém work programme on adaptation indicators. This is needed to implement the ‘UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience’ adopted at COP28 in 2023 and to achieve the Global Goal on Adaptation.

To prepare for the 30^th Conference of Parties (COP30) in Belém in November 2025, the EU constructively advocates in the negotiations for successful decisions on the outcomes described in the mandates. These include delivering on the indicators to track progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation, reaching an agreement on the gender action plan and actively participating in the discussions on the Baku to Belém Roadmap to USD 1.3 trillion, which aims to scale up climate finance flows to developing countries. The EU also continues to participate in the constituted bodies set up to support the parties and the intergovernmental process under the UNFCCC, with a view to achieve the outcomes stated in the mandates.

Implementation of the first Global Stocktake Outcomes and the EU’s nationally determined contribution

Building on the outcomes of the first global stocktake, and to keep the momentum of the milestone collective agreement on the energy transition, the EU led the launch of the Global Energy Transitions Forum in January 2025. The forum unites leaders, ministers and stakeholder groups and aims to ensure that the commitments to accelerate the clean energy transition by tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency are integrated into the next round of nationally determined contribution.

The EU is also moving ahead with preparations to submit its nationally determined contribution, ahead of COP30, with an indicative 2035 target between 66.25% and 72.5% reduction in net GHG emissions compared to 1990 levels.

Engaging in other multilateral and plurilateral fora

The EU’s work with the United Nations and its agencies continues to promote a clean transition and high climate ambition. The adoption of the Pact for the Future at the 79^th session of the Unites Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the need for stronger action against climate change. At the 80^th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the EU highlighted its climate commitments and ambition at leaders’ high-level event on Climate Action and shared its vision on the deployment of renewable energy in the Global Renewables Summit.

The EU remains leading participant in the G7 and G20, with a view to further climate action. Despite geopolitical pressures progress was made in these fora over the past year. The G7 called for fast, deep emission cuts by major economies, including through the phase out of unabated coal power in the first half 2030, while the G20 endorsed a “enhanced ambition agenda” to keep 1.5c within reach. The EU has encouraged both fora to agree on concrete steps to carry out the Paris Agreement and the Global Stocktake.

The EU remains active in the Climate Club, a high-level forum for industry decarbonisation. The Club’s activities focus mainly on decarbonising steel and cement production. In 2024, the club launched a Global Matching Platform designed to fast-track the decarbonisation of heavy-emitting industries in emerging and developing economies by connecting to technical and financial solutions.

The EU has also worked with the OECD to further climate action in member and candidate countries. It has participated in the climate change work of multiple bodies such as the Environment Policy Committee and the Working Parties on Climate Change and on Finance and Investment for Environmental Goals. It has also engaged in the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches and in the Carbon Market Platform, launched by under the OECD as a fora to discuss mitigation policies and carbon pricing and markets policies freely.

As part of the Clean Energy Ministerial, the Commission has launched a campaign promoting sustainable lifestyles and fairness to reduce emissions, which includes a high-level declaration endorsed by several countries, such as China, India, and Brazil.

The EU continues to invest in initiatives to tackle the effects of climate change and environmental degradation that accentuate threats to peace, stability, security and risks undermining European defence. In 2025, the EU published a progress report on implementation of the joint communication on climate and security. The report highlights how, among others, the impact of environmental degradation and climate change on peace and security and defence now features prominently in exchanges with non-EU countries, regional organisations and organisations such as NATO – and how this new focus is leading to tangible initiatives.

Bilateral engagement

Bilateral engagement creates opportunities to exchange with third countries on how we collectively meet the Paris Agreement goals, to share knowledge and experiences on mitigation and adaptation, to provide technical insight drawn from the EU’s extensive experience with climate policy, including carbon pricing. Climate-security concerns are also part of the EU’s bilateral engagement and regular contacts with regional and civil-society partners.

In 2024 and 2025, bilateral engagement with non-EU countries focused on the delivery of ambitious new nationally determined contributions by COP30, which took place in November 2025. Several events were organised in Latin America, Asia and Africa to exchange with countries’ stakeholders and governments on modelling and NDC ambition.

Carbon pricing is a cornerstone of EU climate policy and at the heart of the EU’s climate diplomacy. Building on its experience, the EU works with partners to enhance carbon pricing policies such as emissions trading systems or carbon taxes.

Following the finalisation of the rulebook for carbon markets at COP29, the EU also aims to work closely with partner countries to harness the benefits of high integrity international carbon markets.

The EU has initiated cooperation with countries such as Brazil which adopted its carbon market legislation in December 2024, India, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, etc. It complements the existing engagement with countries such as China and Canada where carbon pricing schemes are already established.

The EU is also engaging with the countries that are candidates to join the EU to ensure they swiftly align with the EU’s climate legislation. Particular emphasis is on making progress on carbon pricing and the alignment with the rules of EU emission trading system. The enlargement process is moving faster than at any point in the last 15 years. In September 2025, the EU formally opened accession negotiations with Albania on green and sustainable connectivity policies, including environment and climate. During the reporting period, the EU also screened Moldova’s and Ukraine’s legislations to check how ready they are to follow EU climate laws.

Progress was also made in implementing existing Green Alliances (Japan, Norway and Canada) and Green Partnerships (Morocco and South Korea) with strengthened dialogue and cooperation in areas of relevance to the green transition. In January 2024, a four-year EU-Korea Green Partnership Programme was launched in South Korea. The aim of the programme is to step up the EU’s green diplomacy, promote bilateral cooperation while supporting the implementation of the Green Partnership. A similar programme, the Green Alliance facility, is also running in Japan since July 2024.

In the context of the EU-China High Environment and Climate Dialogue, the EU has exchanged with China on various policies to accelerate the green transition, including on China’s emissions trading system (inspired by the EU’s system), on modelling of emissions and the impact of climate change, measuring and controlling methane emissions and stimulating finance for resilience. Through its climate diplomacy, from top political levels to technical levels, the EU has encouraged China to contribute its share to supporting global climate action. A Joint declaration on climate was published following the EU-China Summit in July 2025.

The EU boosted relations with India by a College visit in spring 2025. This led to the publication of a new EU-India strategic agenda in September 2025 which, among other things, focuses on the green transition, clean technologies and climate resilience. Technical cooperation on carbon pricing and climate modelling is also growing.

In September 2025, the first ministerial dialogue on climate and environment between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took place. The dialogue confirmed joint commitment to the multilateral climate agenda and strong political engagement to cooperate for ambitious climate action.

A financing cooperation mechanism, the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, is gaining positive momentum in Indonesia. The partnership takes the form of a USD 20 billion agreement to decarbonise Indonesia’s coal-powered economy. So far, some USD 1.2 billion has already been approved in loans and grants, including support for a 60 MW floating solar power plant in West Java.

The EU has the same partnership with Senegal, South Africa and Vietnam. Under its USD 15 billion partnership, Vietnam is also making progress on climate action and major renewable projects are close to the approval stage.

Under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, climate and energy are key priorities in Africa. The EU’s approach is already delivering concrete results. In March 2025, the EU launched a EUR 4.4 billion investment package to support clean energy projects in South Africa. The EU also opened negotiations on a new type of trade and climate deal with South Africa - the clean trade and investment partnership. These initiatives will help EU companies diversify their green supply chains, strengthen EU’s competitiveness and support South Africa in reducing its emissions.

In September 2025, the second Africa Climate Summit showcased the EU’s commitment to work with African partners to pursue objectives of the Paris Agreement and EU’s support to Africa’s green transition and climate resilience. It also paved the way to the EU-African Union summit, which will take place in November 2025 in Angola.

Calls for more cooperation to increase climate action feature at the agenda and outcomes of all EU bilateral Summits with third countries, such as the EU-Canada, EU-Japan, EU-Central Asia Summits in 2025.

The EU Climate Dialogues programme is a key instrument to drive policy dialogue and cooperation on climate policy between the EU and representatives from governments, business, academia, and social and economic organisations in non-EU countries, with the ultimate goal to implement commitments under the Paris Agreement the Paris Agreement. A new EUR 30 million phase started in January 2025 and will run until mid-2029, supporting climate policy talks in 26 priority countries.

Climate finance and international cooperation

Together with climate finance from private sources, international public climate finance plays an important role in helping developing countries to implement the Paris Agreement.

Overall, the EU, its Member States and financial institutions, are the leading contributor of development assistance and the world’s biggest climate finance contributor, accounting for about a third of global public climate finance. In 2023, the EU delivered EUR 28.6 billion in public climate finance, private sector mobilised additional EUR 7.2 billion. Two-thirds of the financial support the EU provided directly to other countries came with special, more favourable terms, with nearly one-quarter supporting least developed countries.

In 2023, the Commission committed to provide EUR 3.2 billion in climate finance. Of this amount, 43% were committed to adaptation, 27% to mitigation, and 29% to cross-cutting actions addressing both mitigation and adaptation priorities (see Table 4).

Table 4: Committed climate finance (2023)

The Commission continues to support partner countries through its financing instruments. For instance, at least 30% of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI – Global Europe) is dedicated to climate action. This includes actions in fragile, and conflict affected settings in recognition of the complex interdependencies between climate change, environmental degradation, fragility and conflict.

The Global Gateway is a EUR 300 billion strategy to boost smart, clean, and secure infrastructure in partner countries, focusing on digital, climate, energy, and transport. It also invests in people, education, research, and health. One concrete example is EUROCLIMA, part of the Global Gateway, which builds partnerships between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean to drive a green and just transition.

The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) also sets a climate change spending target of 18%, rising to 20% by 2027. This is an unprecedented investment of EUR 4 billion in reducing emissions and in helping EU candidate countries build resilience to the effects of climate change.

To address concerns of Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries about climate finance, the European Commission, together with the UK, France, Ireland and Spain, held a ministerial dialogue during the Fourth Finance for Development Conference in Seville (30 June – 4 July 2025). Ministers, senior officials and key partners identified the foundations of a long‑term partnership to improve both the volume and accessibility of climate finance for these vulnerable countries.

The EU and its Member States also remain active on loss and damage support, pledging more than USD 400 million to the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, with over USD 25 million coming from the European Commission. The EU also actively participates in the operationalisation of the fund, as a member of the board.

Efforts are also ongoing to promote the involvement of the private sector in climate action through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+). The EFSD+ provides a comprehensive set of tools, including guarantees, grants and technical assistance, to mobilise private sector investments for sustainable development in partner countries. It contributes, among others, to climate change mitigation, adaptation and environmental protection and management. Offering a variety of risk-sharing instruments of up to EUR 40 billion, the EFSD+ has the potential to mobilise more than half a trillion euros in investments for 2021-2027, largely from the private sector.

The Commission continues cooperation on sustainable aviation through dedicated support to feasibility and business implementation studies for sustainable aviation fuels in several African countries and India. Furthermore, the Commission continues supporting many countries in Africa and Latin America on advance clean urban mobility, including the promotion of clean and efficient transport technologies (rail and buses). The EU also backs the capacity building in shipping under Net-Zero Framework of the International Maritime Organisation and supports the establishment of green maritime corridors and exploring opportunities on the production and use of renewable and low carbon fuels in the sector.