A hotter world, tighter budgets: the World Wildlife Fund on Climate Week’s 2026 test

Next week, over 100,000 attendees will gather in New York City for more than 1,000 events during Climate Week. This massive turnout showcases the progress made in climate discussions, but it also raises questions about why the climate crisis continues to worsen. Over the last eleven years, the world has seen its warmest temperatures on record, with 2024 marking the first year exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold above preindustrial temperatures.

Climate change has already caused devastating impacts, such as the recent glacier collapse and flood in Nepal that killed more than 1,300 people. In Europe, excess heat caused by the rapidly warming climate resulted in over 35,000 additional deaths last summer.

The Climate Week gatherings have not proven effective in moving the needle fast enough on climate change. While governments, corporations, and investors have been pushing for climate action, the world is still on a path towards approximately 2.8 degrees Celsius of warming, even with existing policies in place. Full implementation of current climate pledges would reduce this projection to a more manageable 2.3 to 2.5 degrees.

However, this progress is still insufficient compared to the 1.5-degree target set by the Paris Agreement.

Nature conservation is vital to achieving climate goals, yet it has received inadequate attention and funding. Forests, wetlands, and mangroves are essential in storing carbon, buffering storm surges, and stabilizing soils and waters. The world's oceans alone absorb around 30% of all climate emissions annually. Yet, nature is the least-funded aspect of the climate system.

Public finance has accounted for roughly 80% of nature finance since 2010, but private investment remains far from sufficient. To close the funding gap, innovative financing models are necessary. These models should aim to maximize the impact of limited public funds, generate returns for reinvestment, and reward investments that prevent losses.