UN Climate Change: UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC to Accelerate Climate Action

Government and private sector leaders meeting during and on the margins of this year’s UN General Assembly session (14 – 30 September) are set to drive forward critical climate action ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in November.

This year’s UN General Assembly session coincides with the publication by UN Climate Change of its updated version of the NDC Synthesis report on 17 September.

Nationally Determined Contributions – or NDCs – are national climate action plans in which countries that are Parties to the Paris Agreement communicate the actions that they plan to take to address climate change.

The publication of the full report follows on from the publication of the initial NDC Synthesis report in February 2021, which showed that the world is not on track to reach the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

Climate Week NYC 2021

Climate Week New York City (CWNYC 2021) from 20 to 26 September provides a platform for showcasing leading climate action and exploring how accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis.

CWNYC will focus on fulfilling and increasing commitments made by businesses, governments and organizations to deliver the promise of the Paris Agreement.

Events taking place during the Week will be organized into 10 themes: built environment, energy, industry, food, environmental justice, transport, finance, sustainable living, nature and policy.

The event is hosted by the Climate Group in conjunction with the UN, the COP26 Presidency and the City of New York and will include both virtual and physical events. UN Climate Chief Patricia Espinosa will speak at the opening.

The COP26 Presidency and COP26 High-Level Climate Champions and global leaders will call for a gear shift from ambition to implementation in the race to a cleaner, healthier and more climate-resilient world.

On 20 September, the COP25 and COP26 climate champions are set to outline to what extent “breakthrough ambition” has been achieved in all 15 sectors of the global economy for the 2030 Breakthroughs campaign.

Find out more about the event here. See full NYC Climate Week events calendar here.

Other key events taking place on the margins of the General Assembly:

The UN Food Systems Summit on 23 September sets the stage for the transformation of global food systems. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for the historic, first ever Food Systems Summit this year to carve a path where good food is affordable and accessible and is produced in a way that protects the planet. Food production is hugely impacted by climate change and agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The High-level Dialogue on Energy (24 September) is the first global gathering on energy under the auspices of the General Assembly since the 1981 UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy. It is the culmination of a year of accelerated action to achieve affordable, clean energy for all by 2030. Clean renewable energy is front and center to tackling climate change.

The SDG Action Zone (22-24 September) will seek to inspire action and create massive change towards achieving the goals.

UN Global Compact Annual High-Level Meeting on Ocean: This high-level meeting on 20 September will launch the next phase of the Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform with the establishment of the Ocean Stewardship Coalition as part of the UN Global Compact 2021-2023 renewed strategic ambition, also for climate action.