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UN Climate Summit Set to Raise Ambition, Mobilize Finance, and Generate Action to Tackle Climate Change
Different kind of summit brings country leaders together with new partners from business, finance and civil society
New York, 19 September – A record number of Heads of State and Government, together with leaders from business and civil society, will be participating in the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on 23 September.
More than 120 Heads of State and Government are expected to announce their vision and commitment for reaching a universal and meaningful climate agreement in 2015, as well as make announcements on actions that will reduce emissions, enhance resistance to climate change and mobilize financing for climate action.
“Greenhouse gas emissions are at record levels and the effects of climate change are already widespread, costly and consequential,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “That is why I am convening next week’s Climate Summit.”
“We need a clear vision, anchored in domestic and multinational actions, for keeping global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius,” he said. “The world needs to see what opportunities there are to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide sustainable energy sources. By seeing what is possible, others can find inspiration and follow suit.”
“I am counting on leaders everywhere, from all sectors of society, to lead by example and bring bold actions and ideas and strong political vision and political will to New York.”
The Climate Summit is being held 14 months before countries meet in Paris to reach a global climate agreement. The New York Summit has been planned as a very different kind of meeting, with emphasis on promoting both a long-term vision and immediate actions for achieving a low-carbon and resilient world.
The Summit will focus on vision and concrete action which, while not part of the formal UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, will raise the prospects for a more ambitious and meaningful climate agreement.
In addition to producing a global leaders’ vision for a universal and meaningful climate agreement, announcements are expected in five areas:
 Cutting emissions: by governments and a wide range of actors in key sectors of the global economy – from energy, cities, industry and transport, to forestry and agriculture.

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 Moving money and markets: both though public and private action.
 Pricing carbon emissions through action by national governments, local governments, companies and investors.
 Strengthening resilience: through progress on risk mitigation mechanisms and finance.
 Getting all hands on deck—all sectors of society have a role to play. The Summit will result in unprecedented multi-stakeholder coalitions of national and local leaders, as well as CEOs, captains of finance, and civil society leaders who working together can address the full range of climate challenges and opportunities.
Opening at 8 a.m., the Summit will start with a film produced by Lyn Lear and narrated by Morgan Freeman. Delegates will then hear the Secretary-General set out his expectations for the Summit and the road ahead. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairperson Rajendra Pachauri, former US Vice-President Al Gore and actors Li Bingbing, a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador and newly-appointed UN Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio will also address the Opening Ceremony. Speaking on behalf of civil society will be Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner from the Marshall Islands, who was selected through an open process run by the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service.
The Summit will then break into three parallel chambers to hear the more than 120 Heads of State and Government make national action and ambition announcements. At a Private Sector Forum, the leaders will join business CEOs to discuss the issue of pricing carbon and emissions, and to announce business actions on climate change.
In the afternoon, coalitions consisting of governments, businesses and civil society will be announcing climate initiatives in areas where action is most needed, including agriculture, cities, energy, finance, forests, industry, resilience, and transport. Thematic sessions will discuss critical issues on climate change, including the economic case for climate action, health and jobs, climate science and hear from people living on the frontlines of climate change. Also in the afternoon, countries represented at the Summit at the ministerial level will be able to make their national action and ambition statements.
The Summit will conclude with the Secretary-General issuing a Chairman’s Summary, a keynote address by Grace Michel and a performance by singer Natasha Bedingfield of a song written specially for the Summit by songwriter Toby Gadd.
Complete information on the Summit can be found at www.un.org/climatechange/summit and press releases at www.un.org/climatechange/summit/media
Announcements from the Summit can be tracked on the day at twitter.com/climate2014live. The hashtag for the Summit is #climate2014.
Media contacts Dan Shepard shepard@un.org Tel: 1 963-9495, cell+1 646 675 3286 and Dan Thomas daniel.thomas@un.org, Tel: +1 917 225 1913. For a list of interviewees Carol Cassidy Tel: +1 732 895 5212