2025 is a pivotal year for adaptation, with National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) due from all countries. By the end of May 2025, 63 developing countries and 10 developed countries had submitted their NAPs to the secretariat.

At its 47^th meeting in February, the Least Developed Countries Expert Group agreed to set up a task force to help prepare the 2025 progress report on NAPs, alongside another task force helping LDCs formulate their NAPs by year-end.

In February, the Santiago Network and the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage signed a Letter of Intent for the provision of support to vulnerable communities. At its fourth meeting, the network’s Advisory Board approved the establishment of a regional presence for its secretariat – including regional coordinators, desk officers, and contact points.

The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage published several technical guides and knowledge products to help developing countries address loss and damage issues – like sea level rise – and advance solutions like insurance and strategic relocation.

Work also progressed on adaptation indicators, a key focus and deliverable of COP30 this November. In March, experts briefed Parties and observers on their progress and explained key technical aspects of their work. Their consolidated list of indicators, progress reports, and technical documents were published ahead of the June Climate Meetings in Bonn.

Implementation of the Baku Workplan has commenced, further advancing Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ engagement and leadership in our collective stewardship of nature.

Since COP 29, the Paris Agreement’s Crediting Mechanism (PACM) – Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement – has made steady progress toward full operationalization, with some significant milestones achieved in recent months.

In February, important new standards to guide how emission-reducing projects measure their impact were adopted, putting in place a key piece of the PACM machinery.

Specifically, procedures for the PACM registry and the standards for additionality were adopted by the supervisory body of the mechanism – the additionality standard guides (how to demonstrate that the activities implemented are beyond business as usual) and the registry procedure guides (to facilitate opening, maintaining and transferring credits).

Other key milestones for the UN carbon market so far this year include:

• Launch of an interim registry, with the development of a permanent registry underway. 
• Accreditation of the first independent auditor responsible for validating and verifying projects. 
• Initiation of the application process for legal experts to support the appeals and grievance mechanism—an essential safeguard to uphold human rights and ensure accountability in project approval and oversight.  
• Finalized templates related to the authorization of activities under PACM, providing clarity on the information required from host Parties when approving activity participation. 

The Supervisory Body is expected to approve the first PACM methodologies in the third quarter of 2025. Stakeholders can contribute by proposing new Article 6.4 methodologies through a bottom-up process, helping to shape future mechanism activities. The first issuance of credits is expected by the end of 2025.

The new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) due in 2025 – with a time horizon to 2035 – continued to come in, with the overwhelming majority of Parties indicating they intend to submit this year.

The UNFCCC’s NDC Registry contains the latest submissions, and all NDCs submitted by 30 September will inform the secretariat’s 2025 NDC Synthesis Report, which we expect to release in late October, prior to COP30.

In parallel, efforts to support countries in developing their NDCs continue apace, with the secretariat and its Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) working closely with partners across the UN system and beyond. The Holistic Approach Project – led by the secretariat and the NDC Partnership – continued its work in Cambodia and Jordan, following the conclusion of the Saint Vincent & the Grenadines iteration in January. This year-long initiative focuses on strengthening institutional capacity to implement key areas of the Paris Agreement, including NDCs.

The secretariat, its RCCs, and the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) are also working to highlight opportunities for industrial decarbonization within NDCs. A series of regional webinars – launched in March, with the first focusing on Latin America – are sharing potential solutions on industrial decarbonisation and raising awareness about its importance for achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Political momentum has been building on the importance of just transition as a key pillar of COP30 outcomes in Belém. Preparations for mandated activities under the Just Transition Work Programme this year advanced well in Q1 and these will be critical for deepening understanding of the cross-cutting nature of just transitions and informing negotiations.

Following submissions on work to be undertaken and topics of the dialogues for the year, the Chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies announced in March that the focus of the third and fourth dialogues to be convened in 2025 are to focus on element (d) and element (b) contained in paragraph 2 of decision 3/CMA.5, with both dialogues to include a focus on international cooperation as an enabler of just transitions pathways and unpacking the full range of means of implementation. The third dialogue under the JTWP – which took place during the first Climate Week in May – focused on approaches to enhancing adaptation and climate resilience in the context of just transitions.

The Chairs indicated that the fourth dialogue, to be held ahead of COP30, will in particular focus on just energy transition pathways and other sectoral approaches to just transitions, based on nationally defined development priorities, with the understanding that further consultations on the topic of the dialogue will be convened later in the year.

Momentum is also building around the Baku to Belém Roadmap to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion annually for climate action by 2035. Parties and stakeholders were invited to submit their views on the Roadmap in Q1, with 114 submissions received.

In March, the Presidencies consulted with groups of Parties – and published their work plan on the approach to the Roadmap. Two open consultations will take place at the June Meetings, one with Parties and one with non-Party stakeholders.

The Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) held its 36^th meeting in February, advancing preparations for the 2025 SCF Forum – focused on financing sustainable food systems and agriculture. The Committee also discussed informal consultations with Parties to advance preparing the draft guidance to the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism and began preparations for the next technical reports. Its 37^th meeting, which will include a technical expert session on the first biennial report on progress towards achieving the NCQG report, will take place in June in Bonn.

Progress was made by the Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, which held its fifth meeting in Q1. The Board established the Barbados Implementation Modalities consisting of an initial set of country-led responses to loss and damage with a commitment authority of USD 250 million in grants for the start-up phase from 2025 to 2026.

By the end of Q1, 102 countries had submitted their first Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) – vital enabling tools to help Parties build an evidence base to guide stronger climate policies over time, and identify financing priorities and opportunities. More than half of these BTRs came from developing countries, including nine Small Island Developing States and six Least Developed Countries. Four Annex I Parties also submitted their 2025 National Inventory Reports ahead of the 15 April deadline. Nine countries went through BTR reviews during this period, involving 60 review experts from 36 countries.

Analysis is underway to prepare the first BTR Synthesis Report, which will highlight Parties’ progress towards their NDCs. This report is scheduled for release later this year, prior to COP 30.

The 12^th technical assessment of REDD+ reference levels was held in March, with experts reviewing reference levels submitted by Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guyana, Panama, Senegal, and Sudan. This process strengthens national reporting capacities, enabling countries to enhance their methodologies, integrate new data sources, and improve overall accuracy.

Preparations are also underway for a major ETF milestone: the first Facilitative Multilateral Consideration of Progress (FMCP), which will take place at the June Meetings. This platform will enable Parties to exchange views on climate progress, policy achievements and challenges, and on progress made in implementing NDCs.

The return of newly formatted Climate Weeks in 2025 was driven by the need for climate action to deliver real economy outcomes, faster, and at scale and to ensure implementation is people-centered and rooted in deep collaboration. The new Climate Week format is also designed to align more closely with the work Parties have mandated under the Paris Agreement.

Preparations to structure and organize the first Climate Week – which was hosted by the Government of Panama from 19 to 23 May – got underway in Q1. The meeting featured several mandated events, including the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme, the third dialogue under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme, consultations on the revised NAP Technical Guidelines, and the Global DNA Forum on Article 6 implementation.

Climate Week also hosted the first NDC Clinic of the year – an in-person, capacity-building event that provided practical support to participating countries through the exchange of knowledge and experiences in key areas critical for NDC implementation. Together, these events progressed key discussions and issues, with next steps expected at the upcoming UN June Climate Meetings (SB62) in Bonn.

At the heart of Climate Week was the Implementation Forum – a first-of-its-kind platform that brought together governments, Multilateral Development Banks, investors, businesses, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples to unlock progress across three critical pillars: finance, technology, and carbon markets.

Engagement with admitted observer organizations continued in close coordination with the COP 29 and COP 30 Presidencies to ensure inclusive and meaningful participation in the process.

The assessment of new observer applications was completed in line with established criteria and timelines for consideration for admission by COP 30. Ahead of the June Climate Meetings (SB 62), the secretariat prepared a handbook for observer organizations and a guide to advocacy actions. The secretariat also reviewed more than 570 side event applications for 124 slots, conducting a thematic clustering exercise to streamline the programme and highlight key synergies. This approach facilitated more coherent and impact-oriented discussions aligned with the SB sessions’ agenda and Parties’ priorities.

As mandated by Parties, the secretariat also supported the participation of non-Party stakeholders (NPS) across key workstreams – including the Global Stocktake, the Mitigation Work Programme, the Just Transition Work Programme, and NDC-related dialogues. This also included designing engagement approaches and facilitating coordination with presiding officers and the Climate High-Level Champions to ensure meaningful contributions from civil society, business, Indigenous Peoples, and other stakeholders. By maintaining transparent and inclusive processes, the secretariat helped uphold the mandates’ intent to enhance ambition and implementation through multi-stakeholder participation.

At the start of Q2, Brazilian President, His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Dan Ioshpe will serve as the COP 30 Climate High-level Champion. This is an important milestone, as the secretariat is mandated to advise the Champions and the Presidency on the Global Climate Action Agenda, and support their collaboration with the Marrakech Partnership, including to consult stakeholders on the design of the Global Climate Action Agenda for COP 30.

The secretariat engaged with Parties throughout Q1 on the preparation of the 2026-2027 budget to ensure the budget is aligned with Parties’ priorities.

This consultative process included a briefing by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation Chair for delegation heads at COP 29, two virtual briefings in March 2025, and bilateral consultations. Briefings with Parties will occur after the 2026-2027 programme budget is published, ahead of SB 62. The main budget proposal, which was published at the start of Q2, is available in all six UN languages here.

The June Climate Meetings in Bonn each year – formally called Subsidiary Body Sessions – are a vital moment for Parties to make concrete progress on substantive issues, so as to arrive at the COP with ambitious and inclusive formal outcomes within clear sight and within reach.

Making concrete progress on key issues at the June Meetings is also an important part of the improvements needed, so that Parties do not again push the hardest issues to the last hours of the COP.  As the secretariat has flagged prominently at the past two COPs, we cannot afford avoidable delays.

The June Meetings this year (SB 62) will take place from 16 to 26 June. The annotated provisional agendas and overview schedule now available online. Developments this year to improve efficiencies include the reopening of the Online Registration System (ORS) for NGO/IGO confirmations. In addition, an AI-based pilot tool has been introduced to support visa processing. Two innovative AI/Co-Pilot proof-of-concepts will be deployed at the June Meetings – including trialling a new tool to make it easier to find documents on the UNFCCC website.

The “Information for Participants” and nomination process for the Bonn Meetings have been published on the Indico UN Virtual Platform. The platform helps enhance openness and inclusiveness as it allows for virtual participation, and online registration.  It includes the Code of Conduct which applies equally to all participants in the June Meetings, to help ensure the respectful, safe and productive spaces needed to underpin concrete progress.

Supported by the secretariat, the incoming COP Presidency’s work preparing for all aspects of operations, technology and logistics of COP30 in Belem continues. The secretariat has been working closely to help the Presidency assess and address a range of challenges, including around accommodation availability and affordability, and transportation. The incoming Presidency will hold a briefing at the SB 62 June Meetings, on 19 June from 13:00 to 14:30, to give an update on COP 30 preparations and outline how it is addressing key issues, which will be open to all registered participants and also streamed on-line (a link will be available here).

The updates above are just a sample of all the work taking place in the intergovernmental process on climate change in Q1. We will continue to update Parties on the vital work and progress in many other areas in future Quarterly Updates, and as always, we value your feedback.

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