Six Key Challenges to Accelerate the Climate Transition: BBVA’s Vision for COP31

The 31st edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held from November 9 through November 20 in Antalya, Türkiye. Pending the publication of the official negotiation agenda, COP31, where BBVA is participating as a global bank, is being framed as the implementation summit.

In this regard, BBVA is aligned with this approach to “move from ambition to action on climate change in order to advance the objectives established in the Paris Agreement,” said Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence at BBVA. This is also reflected in the report by its research service, BBVA Research, COP31: From Commitments to Credible Delivery: “COP needs to turn climate commitments into concrete, verifiable measures.” And not only that. The Chief Economist for Climate Change at BBVA Research, Julián Cubero, maintains that “financing will be the litmus test for the agreements.”

At COP29, agreements were reached to mobilize at least $300 billion per year for developing countries and a broader goal of mobilizing $1.3 trillion from public and private sources. Taking these figures into account, Cubero indicates that “intermediate milestones are needed, guarantees of compliance, instruments, and better access conditions that facilitate private participation.”

To accelerate the climate transition, BBVA is focusing its efforts on six areas (which are also challenges) that will help advance the commitments made in Paris and implement them.

1. Financing sustainable electrification and infrastructure at scale.
2. Ensuring that cleantech is bankable.
3. Supporting sustainability throughout value chains.
4. Promoting the resilience, conservation and regeneration of natural capital.
5. Advancing sustainability for everyone.
6. Contributing to a sustainable finance system.

Financing sustainable electrification and infrastructure at scale

One of the key ways to make climate ambitions tangible involves “having cleaner energy systems, modern, smart electricity grids, storage to enable greater use of renewable energy, sustainable transportation, energy-efficient buildings, optimized water management and resilient cities that mitigate the impacts of climate change,” said Ballabriga.

The COP31 Agenda for Action identifies electrification as one of ten essential points, with a concrete target: that 35 percent of global energy demand be covered through electricity by 2035, compared to the current level of 20 percent.This also includes the promotion of climate-resilient infrastructure and the reduction of building emissions, among other priority areas.

Ensuring that cleantech is bankable

The deployment of mature solutions is not sufficient to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. That is the view of the Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence at BBVA. He therefore emphasized that “commercially viable clean technologies are needed” to cover the demand required for the next phase of the transition.

The Presidency of COP31 has included promoting technologies such as storage, hydrogen, alternative fuels, geothermal energy, carbon capture and circular industrial processes among its priorities for decarbonizing the sectors with the highest emissions.

“In this regard, banks can accelerate the process by helping to bridge the gap between innovation and investment. This means structuring financing, sharing risks and connecting clients with public-private capital. It also means supporting projects known as ‘First-of-a-kind projects,’” said Ballabriga.

In other words: cleantech projects implemented in real-world conditions and at commercial scale.

Supporting sustainability throughout value chains

Supply chains play a fundamental role in decarbonization. For this reason, “companies must involve suppliers, clients and industrial partners to reach their emission reduction targets,” he added. This vision, in line with the priorities of the COP31 Presidency, aims to advance more transparent, resilient and circular supply chains that lower emissions and waste, strengthen SMEs and create new investment opportunities.

In this context, BBVA’s experience implementing a model to assess supplier sustainability was recently selected as a case study for the UN Academy, the United Nations Global Compact’s global corporate learning platform. In 2025, BBVA assessed 5,200 suppliers using this model, compared to 4,600 in 2024.

Promoting the resilience, conservation and regeneration of natural capital

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), developing countries will need approximately €310 billion to €365 billion by 2035 (€26 billion mobilized in 2023) to mitigate the impact of climate change on ecosystems, communities, companies and infrastructure.  In this context, “banks play a key role by financing adaptation and integrating analysis of physical risks, water management, biodiversity, agriculture, resilient cities and other nature-based solutions to strengthen the resilience of the territories,” Ballabriga emphasized. One example of this kind of solution, in this case related to water resources, is the blue bond BBVA issued with the IFC in Colombia.

Promoting sustainability for everyone

For BBVA, a transition must be inclusive to be successful. And to achieve this, “it must support households, SMEs, women entrepreneurs, rural communities, migrants, workers and regions particularly exposed to physical and transition risks,” Ballabriga said. In 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report underlined that prioritizing equity, climate and social justice, inclusion and just transition processes can foster ambitious adaptation and mitigation and climate-resilient development.

Contributing to a sustainable financial system

For the Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence at BBVA, “climate implementation requires a financial system capable of mobilizing capital at a greater scale, with better instruments and in markets where the financing is needed most.” With the goal agreed at the 29th Climate Conference to triple climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion per year by 2035, and the call to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year from public and private sources, this challenge puts financing at the heart of implementing the Paris Agreement.

It also aligns with the COP31 Presidency’s approach to designing financing, investment-ready project portfolios and practical delivery mechanisms. Specifically, the Agenda for Action includes the ‘Climate Implementation Bridge’ (CIB) initiative. It aims to serve as a link between countries’ climate commitments, included in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and action. In other words, it aims to help transform these commitments into concrete, viable projects that can attract financing from banks, climate funds and the private sector, thereby accelerating their implementation.

BBVA is clear in this regard: banks can accelerate the transition through transition finance, blended finance, sustainable bonds, risk-sharing structures and by supporting their clients’ transition plans, while also helping to promote new financial architecture, especially in emerging economies.”