GFCR at the UNFCCC COP31

The 31st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP31) will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026 and will operate under the Türkiye–Australia Partnership Modalities. (COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum; President-Designate of Negotiations Chris Bowen). As the primary intergovernmental platform for negotiating collective action on climate change, it will bring together heads of state, ministers, scientists, business leaders and civil society to assess whether the outcomes of previous COPs can be translated into operational delivery. COP31 comes at a pivotal moment for advancing ocean-based climate action. It is increasingly regarded as a “Blue COP”, with Oceans and Seas as a thematic focus of the Action Agenda led by the Türkiye Presidency.

Coral Reefs: From Tipping Point to Turning Point

Coral reefs are the first major ecosystem to cross a climate tipping point. This is no longer a future risk; it is happening today. At around 1.2°C of global warming, reefs begin to face a threshold of widespread decline. The world has already warmed by approximately 1.3–1.4°C, and nearly half of the world's coral reefs have been lost. The fourth global coral bleaching event (2023–2025) exposed reefs to the most extensive and intense heat stress on record. With marine heatwaves becoming more frequent, many reefs are losing their ability to recover. The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems assesses 96 per cent of coral reef ecosystems as Critically Endangered from future climate change. Under current policies, UNEP projects 2.8°C of warming this century, a trajectory that would leave only fragments of today's reefs intact.

Nearly one billion people live within 100 kilometres of a coral reef, depending on them for food, livelihoods and coastal protection. Yet reefs' capacity to provide these benefits has already declined by approximately half since the 1950s. Climate change is compounded by local pressures, including overfishing, coastal development and pollution. The priorities are urgent: protect the reefs most likely to withstand future warming, reduce local pressures, and support the communities and economies that depend on reefs as they adapt. This demands better data to identify climate-resilient reefs and refugia, alongside finance at the scale needed to turn priorities into action.

Coral reefs are integral to interconnected coastal seascapes that include mangroves and seagrass meadows, vital blue carbon ecosystems that capture and store carbon. By dissipating wave energy, reefs also protect these habitats and the coastlines and communities behind them. Their decline therefore undermines both coastal resilience and nature-based climate solutions. Protecting coral reefs must be essential to strengthening ocean-based climate action and advancing countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

GFCR’s Role in Implementing Ocean-based Climate Commitments

As an established ocean finance platform and implementation vehicle for climate adaptation, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is well placed to demonstrate how innovative finance can turn climate commitments into tangible outcomes for coral reef ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. With a public-private governance and implementation model, a track record of more than five years and a pipeline of resilience-based investment opportunities across 22 countries, GFCR links reef conservation with sustainable economic activity and community resilience. Its network of public, private and conservation partners supports locally led, investment-ready solutions that can be replicated and scaled was also highlighted in informal summary report of the 2026 Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue.

At COP31, GFCR will showcase its portfolio, investment opportunities and blended finance approaches that mobilise public, private and philanthropic capital for climate adaptation and coastal resilience. It will also share best practices and lessons from implementation, and explore partnerships to scale up reef-positive investments, contributing to COP31’s focus on turning climate commitments into action on the ground. GFCR will collaborate closely with the Global Climate Action Agenda, convened by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions with Marrakech Partnership stakeholders, to deliver on the blue implementation agenda.

Snapshot of GFCR Engagements

All sessions take place in the Blue Zone

A New Era of Climate Action: The Power of Global Partnerships in Driving Implementation

📅 Friday, 13 November | 🕒 08:00 – 09:30 | 📍 The Goals House – By Invitation

Organised by: UNOPS

Under Chatham House Rules, this breakfast roundtable discussion will bring together UN senior leadership, Member State representatives and philanthropic partners to demonstrate the efficacy of UNOPS-hosted initiatives in generating ecosystem-wide benefits, especially by strengthening national policy environments, accelerating bankable project pipelines and driving coordinated impact beyond the scope of any single grant. As a UNOPS-hosted partnership, GFCR will share how its private-public governance model has unlocked and delivered catalytic ocean-climate financing for local contexts in practice.

COP31 Reception: Financing the Implementation of Ocean-Climate Action through the Marine Conservation Breakthroughs

📅 Friday, 13 November | 🕒 16:30 – 18:00 | 📍 The Goals House – By Invitation

Organised by: Climate Champions Team, COP30 Presidency of Brazil, COP31 Co-Presidencies of Türkiye and Australia, Mangrove Breakthrough, Coral Breakthrough, Seagrass Breakthrough, Saltmarsh Breakthrough, and Kelp Breakthrough

This high-level reception will convene political leaders, government representatives, international and financial institutions, development partners, civil society and scientific leaders to build consensus around the actions needed to accelerate finance for the implementation of the Marine Conservation Breakthroughs.

Placing Nature at the Heart of Climate Action

📅 Tuesday, 17 November | 🕒 09:00 – 10:30 | 📍 Special Event Room 4 (Theatre)

Organised by: Ocean & Climate Platform, IUCN, UN Tourism, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Nature4Climate, UN REDD+, Synergies Collaboration Platform

The event will bring together the initiatives and actors driving the preservation and restoration of oceans and coastal ecosystems. Through concrete examples, results and success stories, it will showcase progress since COP30 in Belém, including finance mobilised, areas conserved or restored, and country and community engagement, showing how action on the ground is translating into tangible outcomes. GFCR will spotlight its work in Indonesia, including the Biru Fund, highlighting sustainable revenue streams for marine protected areas, the role of blended finance and reef-positive businesses in long-term conservation.

Implementing Ocean-Climate Action: Advancing the Marine Conservation Breakthroughs

📅 Tuesday, 17 November | 🕒 11:00 – 12:00 | 📍 Special Event Room 3

Organised by: Mangrove Breakthrough, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International, Global Fund for Coral Reefs, Seagrass Breakthrough Saltmarsh Breakthrough Kelp Breakthrough, Seaweed Breakthrough, Climate-Resilient Coral Reefs Commitment, WWF-Brazil

This high-level Ocean Solutions and Delivery Event of the Global Climate Action Agenda will be a key political milestone at COP31, building momentum to accelerate the shift from marine conservation commitments to nationally determined contribution (NDC) implementation at scale. GFCR will moderate the finance segment, showcasing viable public-private delivery models and opportunities to scale up reef-positive investments. Examples will include the GFCR-supported coral debt swap in Indonesia, a guarantee facility in Solomon Islands and the Pacific Island Tuna model in Micronesia, which channels sustainable tuna revenues into reef conservation, demonstrating how GFCR mobilises local finance at the ocean-climate nexus.

The session will feature high-level announcements from GFCR and partners, unveiling a new wave of commitments to accelerate action towards 2030

Sustainable Blue Economy for Healthy Oceans, Jobs and Finance

📅 Tuesday, 17 November | 🕒 17:00 – 18:15 | 📍 Evidence for Climate Action Pavilion

Organized by: World Bank, UNEP FI, GFCR and OECS

The session will showcase the links between marine health, the sustainable blue economy, financing instruments, and jobs and climate resilience. It draws on evaluation findings from the World Bank Group's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), strategic policy, planning and readiness tools from and from operational experience from UNEP's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative, and operational experience from GFCR, the World Bank Group and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Speakers will discuss what it takes to transition to a sustainable blue economy, covering finance, investment readiness, governance and partnerships, and what this approach delivers for climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as sustainable, productive sectors and jobs.

Climate Resilient Coral Reefs - A Global Commitment

📅 Wednesday, 18 November | 🕒 10:00 – 11:00 | 📍 WWF Pavilion

Organised by: WWF, WWF Coral Reef Rescue Initiative, WCS and TNC

Coral reefs sit precisely at the ocean-climate nexus. They are climate adaptation, coastal protection, food security, biodiversity, and livelihoods in a single ecosystem, and they are the most exposed ecosystem to a warming ocean. Yet they remain largely absent from the formal negotiating agenda. Bringing together signatories and supporters of the Climate-Resilient Coral Reefs Commitment, this event will celebrate existing commitments, welcome new signatories, and highlight the role of Indigenous and local stewardship in protecting the reefs most likely to survive climate change. It will explore the long-term financing including spotlighting GFCR supported Solomon Islands' Guarantee Facility, technical partnerships, and political support needed to turn pledges into action.

The Last Stand for Coral Reefs: Scaling Up and Financing Nature-Based Solutions

📅 Wednesday, 18 November | 🕒 12:45 – 13:35 | 📍 Ocean Pavilion

Organised by: Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and GFCR, with WWF, Boticário Group Foundation, Coral Reef Rescue Initiative, International Coral Reef Society and the Brazilian Coral Reef Coalition

Coral reefs are on the front line of the climate crisis, yet finance to protect them remains low on the international climate agenda. Building on the COP30 Mutirão outcomes, panellists will demonstrate what successful collective action for reefs entails, drawing on national implementation examples from Brazil, Kenya and the Pacific. Framing reefs as national assets, the discussion will identify the needs and barriers to scaling up investment and chart a path to the 2027 Ocean Decade Conference and COP32, with GFCR sharing its on-ground experiences as an innovative ocean financing mechanism.