UN climate adviser Selwyn Hart urges speed and scale ahead of COP30

Selwyn Hart, the United Nations secretary-general’s special adviser on climate action, said Tuesday that the world has made measurable progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement but must accelerate sharply ahead of COP30 to meet the 1.5°C goal.

Hart told a session at the SDG Media Zone at UN Headquarters that the global trajectory has improved since Paris—from a roughly 4°C path to about 2.6°C based on submitted national climate plans—but that “each year of insufficient action” widens the remaining gap. He urged leaders attending the secretary-general’s midweek Climate Ambition Summit to present new, ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) as soon as possible.

“The summit’s primary objective is for countries to either present or announce their new NDCs,” Hart said. He added that the G20 — the 20 largest economies that he said account for about 80% of global emissions — will largely determine whether the world can get closer to the 1.5°C target.

Hart highlighted signs of rapid technological change in the energy sector. “Ten years ago, it took a week to deploy 1 gigawatt of solar,” he said. “Last year, it took 19 hours.” He cited an International Energy Agency estimate that 2023 clean‑energy investment would be roughly $2.2 trillion, about double investment in fossil fuels, and said those trends show solutions exist but are not yet being deployed at the necessary pace and scale.

Beyond energy, Hart said the summit aims to showcase solutions across sectors and to feed those outcomes into COP30 planning with the Brazilian host. He emphasized nature-based approaches — forests, coral reefs and mangroves — as tools for both mitigation and adaptation and said the summit’s solution dialogues will include dedicated sessions on forests and oceans.

On equity, Hart framed a “just transition” as core to any accelerated plan. He said the world’s richest 1% emit disproportionately and that workers and frontline communities who bear climate impacts must not be left worse off by the shift to low‑carbon economies. “If the transition is planned and financed, it can be a just transition,” he said, adding that policies must include support for workers and vulnerable communities.

Hart also focused on Africa’s energy needs: he said Africa contributes about 4% of global emissions while facing faster-than-average warming and displacement risks. He stated that roughly 600 million Africans lack electricity, that hundreds of millions globally still lack access to power and that 1 billion people lack clean cooking solutions. Hart said Africa holds significant solar resources and critical minerals for the transition, and he pointed to off‑grid and mini‑grid solutions as practical ways to expand access quickly.

The session closed with Hart warning against misinformation and urging journalists to ground coverage and policy in science. Danielle Mulder, the BBC’s director of sustainability and the session moderator, thanked Hart and the audience and underscored the media’s role in informing public debate as leaders prepare for the summit and COP30.

The secretary-general’s Climate Ambition Summit is scheduled during the UN General Assembly’s high‑level week; Hart said its success will be measured by the quantity and ambition of new NDC announcements and by demonstrable commitments to scale proven solutions into the next decade.