UN moves net-zero reporting framework into implementation at COP31

UN Climate Change says its framework for tracking voluntary net-zero commitments has moved from testing into implementation, bringing a new focus on evidence behind the promises made by businesses, financial institutions and local authorities.

Executive Secretary Simon Stiell announced the step Thursday at the Caring for Climate event at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. He said a renewed reporting portal, known as NAZCA, would allow organisations to share their plans and report progress. Eight initiatives have joined so far, with nearly 80 signatories across 22 countries.

Stiell said more than half of those signatories were willing to share independently reviewed transition plans, while nearly a third were willing to share evidence of progress towards interim targets. Those figures describe willingness to disclose information, rather than a declaration that all participating organisations have already met their targets. His appeal was for commitments to be backed by investment and results people could examine, according to the UN’s published text of his speech.

Making climate commitments easier to assess

The Net-zero Recognition Framework concerns voluntary action by organisations outside national-government climate negotiations. UN Climate Change’s background material says eligible initiatives and their participating entities can opt in to public recognition through NAZCA. The framework follows consultations on how to make such commitments more transparent; its pilot phase formally began in February 2026 after being announced at COP30.

The distinction is important for readers assessing a company’s climate claims. A published plan can show what an organisation intends to do. Progress reporting offers evidence of what has happened since. Neither should be confused with a guarantee that a future emissions goal will be achieved.

Thursday’s announcement adds a practical reporting development to the wider COP31 discussions. The official leaders’ summit runs November 11 and 12, while governments continue their separate negotiating process. The reporting framework gives companies and other participants a route to make their plans and progress public alongside those negotiations.

File portrait: Simon Stiell visiting the European Commission, March 16, 2026. © European Union, 2026 / Claudio Centonze, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped from the original; not a photograph of today’s COP31 event.