The latest scientific assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has once again highlighted the urgency to act. The damage from the climate crisis is already extensive, and global greenhouse gas emissions remain at record levels. The world needs immediate and deep reductions in emissions now, and over the course of the next three decades, to limit global warming to 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels and prevent the worst impacts.

Meanwhile, populations that are the least responsible for the climate crisis are already suffering from its impacts and need immediate help to adapt and recover from loss and damage. This is an issue of equity and climate justice which requires immediate attention from governments and international financial institutions.

To accelerate action by governments, business, finance, local authorities and civil society, and hear from “first movers and doers,” the United Nations Secretary-General is convening a Climate Ambition Summit at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 20 September 2023.

The Summit represents a critical political milestone for demonstrating that there is collective global will to accelerate the pace and scale of a just transition to a more equitable renewable-energy based, climate-resilient global economy.