Climate Week NYC: Making good on promises

By Climate Champions | September 5, 2022

We have seen nothing yet. Our world, that’s already heated up by an average of 1.2C above pre-industrial temperatures, has become intolerable – uninhabitable – for millions of people.

Unless immediate and comprehensive measures are taken to deliver on our collective goals and commitments, before long no sector, business or community will escape from having to recover from climate breakdown. And no sector, business or community should escape from being part of the solution.

While thousands of non-state actors are taking actions to halve emissions and build climate resilience, thousands more are not. Our role, as the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, is to usher in a tidal wave of non-state climate action that catalyses ambition and protects people and nature most at risk from the impacts of climate change.

Making good on promises — proving that ambitious targets are for real and are being backed by immediate implementation — is the theme of this year’s Climate Week NYC. Taking place from 19-24 September, the week will see influential leaders in climate action from business, government, and the climate community, discuss how we challenge ourselves to do more – together and faster.

Embedding nature at the heart of these implementation strategies, the ‘Nature positive for a net zero future’ investor convening will underline actions that financial institutions  should be taking to tackle commodity-driven deforestation. The event, attended by COP26 President Alok Sharma and High-Level Champion, Nigel Topping, will hear from signatories of the Financial Sector Commitment letter on commodity-driven deforestation who will share their experiences, collaborations, challenges and tools used for implementing the letter.

The High-Level Champions are also hosting a workshop: Action After Impacts which will focus on actions businesses are already taking, and how these can be rapidly scaled to those most at risk from climate losses and damages. The event builds on workshops, convened by the Champions, alongside frontline voices, in May and June this year.

On Wednesday 21 September, the Champions will host a landmark summit with Michael R. Bloomberg, convening business, finance, government, civic and cultural leaders. During this week of pivotal federal convenings, this event will bridge the gap between government leaders and non-state actors to ensure the fulfilment of pledges and commitments, and drive the radical collaboration needed to deliver on climate goals. The forum will shine a light on the need to accelerate the mobilisation of capital, to continue reducing emissions without exacerbating debt, and to build climate adaptive and resilience communities across all corners of the world. Leading speakers  will take stock of the progress made and explore what more is needed from all stakeholders to create an inclusive and resilient economy. To find out more, see here.

Throughout the course of the week, we will be collaborating with the Resilience Hub, Resilience First and Cities Race to Resilience to bring together key stakeholders from Race to Resilience partners for a solutions-oriented discussion on resilience. In previous years, resilience has been relegated behind mitigation – but now, more than ever, it is clear there is an urgent need to accelerate and scale adaptation for resiliency. Private sectors and city representatives will share insights on how businesses are building resilience by working with cities, the challenges faced, success stories, and what the cost of inaction is.

Other events include an in-person meeting of Marrakech Partnership stakeholders to collectively respond to developments during Climate Week and discuss strategic coordination across the MP leading up to COP. A meeting co-convened by The Lightsmith Group, the Global Adaptation and Resilience Investment, will see private investors, global consulting firms, representatives from development finance institutions, among others discuss how to deploy solutions that enhance climate adaptation and resilience globally.

For more details and information on how you can get involved, click here.

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