• Nations remain resolute in meeting climate goals despite the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
  • Countries are setting more ambitious emissions reduction targets and investing in renewable energy and adaptation measures.
  • The UN emphasizes that collective international action remains crucial to combat climate change.

Countries around the world are intensifying their climate action efforts even after the United States’ exit from the Paris Agreement, a senior UN climate official said on Friday.

Speaking at a briefing in Geneva, the official stressed that the U.S. withdrawal has not dampened global resolve to combat climate change.

“A country may step back, but others are already stepping into their place to seize the opportunity, and to reap the massive rewards: stronger economic growth, more jobs, less pollution and far lower health costs, more secure and affordable energy,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a speech in Brazil's capital Brasilia .

He also added that many nations are now setting more ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are accelerating investments in renewable energy and climate adaptation.

Stiell said in the 10 years since the Paris Agreement was adopted, the world has become more divided but the climate negotiation process has "managed to buck the trend."

The world has mobilized around $2 trillion in climate finance, money to support poorer countries' efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts, from "nearly nothing" over the last decade.

In addition, international financial mechanisms are being mobilized to support developing countries in their efforts to adapt to climate impacts. He called on countries to increase the amount of climate finance they agreed to target at last year's climate summit of $300 billion annually by 2035.

European nations, major Asian economies, and emerging countries across Africa have all signaled enhanced commitments, with several of them announcing plans to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Recent policy shifts include the implementation of stricter industrial emission standards and the launch of large-scale reforestation and green infrastructure projects.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah