The Climate Change Summit

This week's blog post is being put aside to instead feature reports from inside the UN on Climate Change and General Assembly happenings.
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The largest-ever gathering of world leaders devoted to climate change took place at UN Headquarters on 22 September, with 101 Heads of State and Government and 163 countries participating. The Summit focused high-level attention on the issue, mobilized political will and reinvigorated the negotiating process aimed at sealing a global climate deal at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December this year.

The event emphasized dialogue rather than set-piece speeches. By giving leaders the opportunity to pre-record their national statements, which were then made available globally through the Internet, the Summit enabled leaders to engage in direct and small-group discussions throughout the day.

At the end of the Summit, the Secretary-General invited 23 world leaders to a smaller working dinner on the crucial issue of financing for climate change. He urged them to establish a $100 billion per annum fund to support adaptation and mitigation actions in developing countries during the next decade. Two days after the Summit, the Secretary-General attended the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, where in-depth discussions on climate change continued.

Regarding Seal the Deal: “There is still much hard work ahead of us if we are to achieve success in Copenhagen”, the Secretary-General said. “I intend to engage leaders both individually and collectively, in concert with the Prime Minister of Denmark, to maintain the new momentum and consolidate progress in the run-up to Copenhagen. As a start, I will visit Europe at the beginning of October to consult further with the Prime Minister of Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, and the Prime Minister of Denmark.” Denmark will host the December climate conference, which is being organized in the context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.