COP30 Must Show Real Progress On Finance, Past Pledges: UK Climate Envoy | Exclusive

Last Updated:July 08, 2025, 13:22 IST

Rachel Kyte speaks to CNN-News18 on the road to COP30, turning climate finance pledges into action, and deepening collaboration with India on clean energy solutions

Rachel Kyte, the UK’s Special Representative for Climate. (News18)

With just five months until the UN Climate Summit COP30 kicks off in the Amazonian city of Belém, global momentum around climate action is accelerating. The BRICS Summit, which concluded on Monday, further renewed focus to climate finance and carbon accounting—key areas as major world economies align ahead of this year’s crucial UN climate talks.

In the United Kingdom, Europe’s largest climate event, London Climate Action Week, wrapped up, bringing leaders, business and civil societies to focus on turning pledges into real-world action. CNN-News18 spoke with Rachel Kyte, the UK’s Special Representative for Climate, on what’s needed to make this year’s UN climate talks at COP30 a success and on deepening collaboration with India, as a key provider of clean energy solutions.

Edited Excerpts:

On the Road to COP30…

We are hoping that we, as a global community, make real progress on financing nature, recognising that nature’s resilience underpins our own. Brazil, with its vast bio-economy, is expected to lead with innovation, bringing a roadmap on finance that outlines how $300 billion in public finance is leveraged to $1.3 trillion in climate investment.

We must make progress on what has already been agreed on in previous COPs—transition away from fossil fuels, and take a hard look at harmful subsidies. Now that the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance is agreed, the question is how do we mobilise public finance to attract private capital to address the urgent concerns of most vulnerable communities on quality and access to finance. For smaller economies, it is important that finance must be concessional and grant-based.

What progress do you expect in terms of delivering climate finance commitments?

At COP29, countries agreed to prepare a roadmap on how to mobilise the estimated $1.3 trillion in climate finance needed per year. This “Baku to Belém" roadmap is being prepared by the presidency-elect, Brazil, and Azerbaijan.

They are consulting countries and stakeholders, but are looking at how to continue reforms of the international financial architecture—performance of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and multilateral climate funds, mobilising private capital, the growth of high-integrity carbon market, other forms of generating finance, and issues around adaptation finance.

The UK hopes the roadmap will be comprehensive and built on excellent work by India (as G20 Presidency in 2023), Brazil (as G20 Presidency in 2024) and work done in preparation for COP29. Much of what needs to be done lies beyond the remit of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement—responsibility lies with ministries of finance and it’s good to see states starting to recognise this.

What would success at COP 30 look like beyond more headline agreements?

I hope that COP30 is the climate COP where we put the importance of nature at the heart of our response to climate change. Naturally, the focus is on the Amazon and ending deforestation, given we will be meeting in Belém, but I hope we will see a broader package of measures in a cluster of announcements on nature finance—from a possible Tropical Forest Finance Facility, to carbon market development, and recognition of nature’s role in language of the Belem negotiations.

What opportunities do India and the UK have to bridge the north-south climate divide?

The UK and India share a close partnership, working together to tackle the climate crisis. We will continue to collaborate to deliver clean energy and climate solutions.

India is recognised as a global leader, convening nations to address shared challenges—for example through the brilliant work of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). When DESNZ Secretary of State Ed Miliband visited India in February, he was inspired by the work of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The UK is proud to be a member of ISA and will continue to support its ambition to deliver 1,000 GW of renewable energy by 2030. We have also confirmed that in the UK, newly built homes will have solar panels by default under the Future Homes Standard, due to be published in the autumn.

Bringing the UK and India’s technical expertise, technological innovation, access to financial markets in London and commitment to climate action can offer solutions for the whole world. I am looking forward to exploring how we can deepen our partnership.

You’ve spoken extensively on the importance of a just transition. What does a just transition look like in a coal-dependent economy like India’s?

The global clean energy transition will be transformational for everyone, including the UK and India. As well as driving green growth and jobs, clean energy will mean people can move away from fossil fuels. This is essential to help mitigate the impact of extreme heat events and air pollution brought about by the climate crisis. A just transition means meeting the needs of all communities, especially those most vulnerable.

Despite growing recognition of adaptation needs, only a small portion of climate finance goes to adaptation…

International flows of adaptation finance are too small, too slow and often don’t reach the most vulnerable. This is a broader challenge than the discussions in climate negotiations about the amount and quality of climate finance. The question of how we fund economic development in a time of climate crisis requires how adaptation is integrated in fiscal and other economic policies.

We are in a world where all development must be climate-resilient, yet we still treat resilient infrastructure as an expense rather than an investment. COP30 and the roadmap should be the place where we start to have a broader conversation about how to ensure the resilience of people, of nature and infrastructure and economic activity.

On the UK’s roadmap to fulfilling its updated NDCs

The UK announced our ambitious NDC at COP29. We have a statutory process in the UK to guide government decision-making and this is an important way to try to get on track for the commitments we made in Paris. Our 81 per cent cut in emissions over the baseline allows us to engage with other countries to encourage them to be ambitious too.

But our ambition isn’t an empty promise. Since the new UK government won the election in July 2024, we have been driving forward our own energy transition, where we have tough domestic targets. Moving to clean energy quickly allows us to make the most of our natural advantages—offshore wind, nuclear capability and gas with carbon capture, together with new efforts to solarise new housing—inspired in part by India’s solar rooftops initiatives.

It also allows us to ensure the energy security of British people. Abundant clean energy will mean cheaper energy in the future, clean air, good jobs, and will form the basis for our growth. The clean energy-related parts of the UK economy are growing at least three times faster than other parts.

Srishti Choudhary

Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo...Read More

Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo...

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