The world is in a race to limit climate change. To meet the urgent need to address climate change and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is convening a Summit in September 2019 to raise ambition and increase climate action. The race is on. It is a race we can win. It is a race we must win.
The Madrid Climate Change Conference - COP25 - will bring the world together to consider ways to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Taking place from 2 to 16 December in Madrid, the Conference comes at a time when new data shows the climate emergency is getting worse every day, and is impacting people’s lives everywhere, whether from extreme heat, air pollution, wildfires, intensified flooding or droughts.
With global emissions are reaching record levels and showing no sign of peaking, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on all leaders to come to New York on 23 September for the Climate Action Summit with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.The Climate Action Summit, and the Climate Youth Summit, succeeded in focusing the attention of world leaders, from government, the private sector and civil society, on the urgency for action to address the climate emergency, and on increasing climate action.
Renewable energy offers new job opportunities and is crucial to creating more sustainable and inclusive communities. Photo: Karsten Wurth.
Youth Climate Summit, 21 September
The Youth Climate Summit — the first UN climate summit for young people — provided a platform for young leaders to showcase their solutions and meaningfully engage with decision-makers. This historic event took place as part of a weekend of events leading up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit on 23 September. The Youth Climate Summit featured a full-day programme bringing together young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who are committed to addressing the global climate emergency. It was action-oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with equal representation of young leaders from all walks of life.
The initiatives demonstrate that achieving the 1.5°C goal requires the mobilization of all actors across society – countries, regions, cities, companies, investors, and other organizations – working collaboratively towards reducing emissions to net zero by 2050. The initiatives are organized under the Summit’s nine Action Areas.
The Madrid Climate Change Conference brings the world together to consider ways to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Conference comes at a time when new data shows the climate emergency is getting worse every day and is impacting people’s lives everywhere, whether from extreme heat, air pollution, wildfires, intensified flooding or droughts.
The central purpose of the 2019 Climate Action Summit, hosted by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, is to boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement, and to showcase countries’ concrete and realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The UN’s Youth Climate Summit is a platform for young climate action leaders from more than 140 countries and territories to showcase their solutions at the United Nations and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issue of our time.
Seizing the opportunity of the climate action momentum, the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2019 will boost the region’s response to the current climate emergency, with discussions on energy transition, industry transition, infrastructure, cities and local action, resilience and adaptation, and nature-based solutions.
