Vulnerable Nations Demand Grants, Not Loans, as COP31 Leaders Speak

Leaders of the world's most climate-exposed nations used COP31's high-level segment on Nov. 12, 2026, to send one message: adaptation money must arrive as grants, not new debt. No votes were taken. The joint plenary heard national statements and adjourned until Nov. 17. Those statements now put on record a looming finance fight and a split over how fast to leave fossil fuels behind.

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• Small island and African states reject debt-financed adaptation and press for grants and a resourced loss-and-damage fund.
• Multilateral development banks report $103 billion in 2025 climate finance to low- and middle-income economies.
• UK backs the £5 billion Amplify program and names a special representative for climate security.
• Guyana, Venezuela and Russia push back on fossil fuel phase-out framing as Kiribati seeks 35% electrification by 2035.
• Pacific leaders press for science-led action as Tuvalu announces a second fossil fuel transition meeting.

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Grants, Not Debt: Small States Draw a Finance Line

Why it matters: Finance delivery is the main test of a COP focused on implementation. Vulnerable states spelled out their terms on debt and grants before negotiators begin trading text.

Where things stand: The sharpest line came from the Caribbean.

"We cannot be expected to borrow our way out of a crisis we did not create," said Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

Other leaders added numbers to the demand:

• Bangladesh's prime minister, Tarique Rahman, sought debt relief and asked that half of climate finance go to adaptation.
• Rwanda's prime minister, Justin Nsengiyumva, said 80% of his country's $12 billion investment need depends on outside support.
• Nsengiyumva tied that need to Rwanda's target: "Under our 3rd Nationally Determined Contribution, Rwanda commits to reducing emissions by 53% by 2035 relative to business as usual."

Pacific leaders put money on the table and pointed to gaps. Matthew Wale, Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, pledged $0.4 million over two years to the Green Climate Fund's third replenishment. That is a small sum, but a symbolic one from a country he said loses 5% of its GDP every year. Fatafehi Fakafānua, Prime Minister of Tonga, said the Pacific Resilience Facility still needs $328 million to reach its $500 million capitalization goal.

Other leaders focused on whether money arrives reliably. "Permanence means that financing must be automatic, not merely pledged," said Philip Davis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas. Lesotho's Deputy Prime Minister said "climate ambition must be matched by the means of implementation."

Just transition plumbing: Zimbabwe's vice president, Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga, called for timely operationalization of the Just Transition Mechanism agreed in Belém. Rahman went further and urged COP31 to "adopt the Belém-Antalya Action Mechanism for a Just Transition at COP31, with fair finance and fair trade at its heart."

The other side: Lenders say the money is growing. "In 2025, MDBs provided $103 billion in climate finance to low- and middle-income economies," said Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Development banks largely lend rather than give. That puts their headline figures in direct tension with the "no new debt" stance from Antigua and Barbuda and others.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: No decisions were taken. The positions are now formally on record:

• Island and least-developed states want grants, debt relief and an adaptation share.
• Donor governments face pressure to make pledges "automatic."
• Development banks must show their lending meets the access test these leaders set.

What's next: National statements resume Nov. 17. Finance terms will shape the negotiated outcome.

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Electrification Push Meets Fossil Fuel Pushback

Why it matters: How fast, and by what route, countries move off fossil fuels will define the transition language negotiators must settle. It will also shape energy bills at home.

Where things stand: Andy Burnham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, backed the COP31 presidency's electrification focus. He framed it around energy security, jobs and household bills.

"Electrification is how we protect families from global fossil fuel shocks," Burnham said. He announced UK support for the Amplify program, which aims to mobilize £5 billion in new private clean-energy finance. He also announced a special representative for climate security.

Kiribati's president, Taneti Maamau, set a harder target. He called for phasing out fossil fuels and raising global electrification to at least 35% by 2035. Indonesia's special envoy for climate and energy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, said his country would pursue 100 gigawatts of solar. "We will not choose between development and climate change," Djojohadikusumo said.

The other side: Three governments resisted a phase-out frame.

• "We cannot make this solution a binary discussion about fossil fuels or no fossil fuels," said Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President of Guyana. He urged action on all fronts.
• "We reaffirm our sovereign right to strengthen our energy and oil industry as a driver of our national development," said Delcy Rodríguez, Acting President of Venezuela, speaking through interpretation. She also called for finance from developed countries.
• "The Russian Federation rejects unilateral, illegitimate restrictions and politicization of the climate process," said Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change of the Russian Federation. He promoted technology neutrality.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: No decision was taken. The fault line is clear:

• Island states and the UK favor electrification and a phase-out.
• Producer economies frame energy choices as national prerogatives.
• Private clean-energy investors gain a UK-backed mobilization target.
• Oil- and gas-reliant economies gain allies against binding phase-out language.

What's next: Remaining leaders speak Nov. 17, before negotiators take up transition text.

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Pacific Leaders Frame Stakes as Survival

Why it matters: Pacific states are tying negotiating outcomes to survival and statehood. Their framing shapes the presidency's ocean-climate agenda.

Where things stand: The session opened with a presidency video from the Pacific pre-COP in Tuvalu. Tuvalu's prime minister, Feleti Teo, later pressed the point: "Our survival demands collective actions to be guided by science and not by politics."

Teo announced a second international meeting on transitioning away from fossil fuels, co-hosted with Ireland. Niue's prime minister, Dalton Tagelagi, and Tonga's Fakafānua highlighted El Niño impacts and their national renewable energy targets. Wale cited the loss of islands in Solomon Islands.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: No action was taken. Pacific governments are building a coalition track, through the Tuvalu–Ireland meeting, that runs parallel to the formal talks. Coastal and island communities have the most at stake as 1.5-degree overshoot looms.

What's next: The Tuvalu–Ireland meeting was announced. No date appears in the record.

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Conflict, Water and Recovery Enter the Climate Hall

Why it matters: Several leaders argued that war, occupation and control of water are climate issues. They want reconstruction finance to reflect that.

Where things stand: Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, cited the country's 2022 floods and warned that "water must never be weaponized." He also sought grant-based finance.

Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, said occupation limits adaptation and called for green reconstruction of Gaza. "No people should be deprived of their integral right to sustainable development or to confronting climate change due to occupation or conflicts," Mustafa said.

Nawaf Salam, Prime Minister of Lebanon, said Israeli attacks caused more than $512 million in environmental losses in 2023 and 2024, by his government's account. He asked that reconstruction include environmental restoration. Salam also urged that "adequate, predictable, and accessible climate finance must therefore be central to COP31."

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: No decision was taken. These statements push humanitarian and reconstruction claims into the finance debate. That could widen the definition of who qualifies for climate support.

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Minor Items

• COP34 bid: Armenia's Minister of Environment and CBD COP17 President, Hambardzum Matevosyan, said "Armenia expresses its readiness to host the 34th session of the Conference of the Parties" in Yerevan in 2029.
• Rio Conventions synergy: The UNCCD COP17 President outlined the Ulaanbaatar Declaration and a rangelands initiative. Matevosyan described the Yerevan Pathway and a joint Rio synergies declaration.
• Algeria targets: Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb cited an unconditional 14% emissions cut by 2035, rising to 31% with support.
• Speaking rules: The presiding officer set a three-minute limit per statement. Full texts will be posted on the UNFCCC website.
• Absent leaders: Leaders not present when called will be rescheduled at the end of the segment.

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Looking Ahead

The second part of the high-level segment opens Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the same plenary. The remaining national statements will be heard then.