Climate Week NYC launched with a Global To-Do list to get world ‘on-track’ on climate in one year | Climate Week

• Seven actions for governments and businesses, including a ban on relining blast furnaces, unleashing renewables and compensating coal workers
• COP process alone not delivering the speed of emissions cuts needed 
• Climate Group calls for more radical action to deal with lack of delivery 

Sunday September 22, New York – Climate Group today kicked off Climate Week NYC with a call for governments, businesses and the global climate community to focus on far bolder, annual to-do lists of action. Urgent, concrete action is needed to address the emissions gap between what scientists say is needed to avoid disastrous climate change, and what governments and business are delivering. 

In 2022, the IPCC calculated that greenhouse gas emissions would need to come down by 43% by 2030 to stay on course, an annual decrease of around 5%. But global emissions continue at their dangerous levels in spite of the rapid growth of renewables and the sale of electric vehicles. Coal and oil usage have gone up. Even the US, with its most ambitious administration on climate in history, only reduced emissions by 1.9% in 2023.

The announcement comes ahead of COP29 in Azerbaijan, which for the second year in a row is set to be hosted by a petrostate. 

“It’s time for a reality check. We can’t keep making ambitious commitments but then only half implementing them. We can’t afford to waste another year. One year, seven actions - this is our call to arms”, said Helen Clarkson OBE, Climate Group CEO.

“Climate discussions often focus on targets we need to reach by 2030, or even 2050. These are important milestones, but when it comes to the results we need right now, we’re still collectively failing. Governments and business could start taking these steps, this month, right now.”

 

The Global To-Do List calls for seven climate actions across key sectors and systems. They are: 

1. Support workers to power down coal – Climate Group is calling for greater compensation for workers to be considered, such as paying workers for three years if a site shuts early. Bolder policies are needed to enable a faster plan to replace more coal by 2030.
2. Unleash renewables – In many G20 countries permitting issues, regulations, and sometimes woefully unambitious targets, are acting as a drag on the roll-out of renewables. Climate Group is urging for governments to break down these barriers this year, to have any chance of reaching the G20 and COP28 commitment to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030. 
3. Ban relining of coal-based steel furnaces – Climate Group is highlighting the large number of steel plants due to be re-lined, meaning coal usage for another 15 years or more. Electric furnaces and production of green hydrogen should be the norm from now on.
4. Get serious on methane – a fast and sustained reduction in methane emissions is critical to curbing global warming. Climate Group is calling for governments to build a more powerful global agency that by COP next year has the authority to audit fossil fuel companies’ declarations and delivery, and the resources and talent to tackle the biggest leaks.
5. Stop ignoring energy efficiency – energy efficiency of buildings is still overlooked even though it makes money. Every business should set a target to become 5% more efficient in 12 months’ time by managing insulation, heating, cooling, industrial energy and using EVs. Equally, governments need to be bolder, the G20 should agree a minimum investment incentive, following the lead of the US.
6. Buy clean – businesses and Governments have enormous purchasing power, amounting to $100bn's every year that can shift markets. So it's time for every government and large business to set climate as a prequalification-criteria for their procurement. All of them should now be buying healthy, lower carbon food, setting targets for lower carbon steel and concrete, and buying 100 percent renewables and EVs.
7. Tax oil and gas companies to fund the transition – to ensure the polluter pays, the G20 should agree a minimum new import tax on oil and gas. A few dollars per barrel would raise 100s of billions of dollars to support the transition. Every quarter, oil and gas companies are announcing billions in profits and not investing those in the transition. 

“We’re not naive, we understand these policies are challenging”, Clarkson continued. “But these actions are concrete, doable, and proved. There’s no reason to waste another year - we simply can’t afford to.” 

The Global To-Do List will be officially launched in a powerful video during the Opening Ceremony, which includes contributions from Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter and Eugenia Kargbo Chief Heat Officer & Senior Heat Strategist Africa, Freetown City Council.

Tim Lenton said: “Our response to climate change is sluggish, and we need to go a lot faster. That's why a 12-month timeline for climate action is so important: it accelerates change and brings us closer to positive tipping points that propel unstoppable emissions reductions. We have to embrace change because it's become a matter of life or death. Every year of delay is a year of counting more body bags.”

Eugenia Kargbo said: “The impact of climate change is very extreme. Temperatures are rising at an exponential rate, and so are humidity levels. We see flooding happing, people are dying. It’s Time to stop talking and start taking action at a scale that matches the urgency of the climate crisis.”

The rallying cry for this year’s Climate Week NYC is It’s Time, signalling the urgent need for concrete measures that will start driving down emissions almost immediately. 

Ms Clarkson continued: “We’ve seen before that we can achieve great things in short amounts of time when we face urgent common challenges. We need to tackle this with the same determination with which we developed COVID-19 vaccines in 2020, or tackled the ozone layer in the 1980s. Climate change is already costing this generation, let alone our children and grandchildren.”

This 16th edition of Climate Week NYC, the biggest climate event of its kind, brings together influential heads of government, climate leaders, action takers, and innovators from the world of business, government, politics, tech, academia, and civil society that are pushing ahead on climate. 

The Opening Ceremony and The Hub Live will see speakers such as The Honourable Philip E. Davis (Prime Minister of the Bahamas), John Podesta (Senior Advisor to the President, International Climate Policy), Sonia Guajajara (Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern (Former Prime Minister of New Zealand), Prof Celeste Saulo (Secretary General, WMO), Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, Prof Tim Lenton, and CEOs and CSOs of some of the biggest companies in the world. 

In addition, Climate Week NYC provides a platform for some 900 bigger and smaller events across the City of New York, led by organizations that want to push the needle on climate. 

That makes Climate Week NYC an event that drives climate action by those at the very top of business and politics, but also by communities, artists and activists. They are bound together by this year’s battle cry: It’s Time. 

ENDS 

Notes to editors: 

For more information or to set up interviews with Helen Clarkson, kindly reach out to Rik Goverde at RGoverde@climategroup.org or +44 7710 798 786 (WhatsApp)

About Climate Group 

Climate Group drives climate action. Fast. Our goal is a world of net zero carbon emissions  by 2050, with greater prosperity for all. We focus on systems with the highest emissions and where our networks have the greatest opportunity to drive change. We do this by building large and influential networks and holding organisations accountable, turning their commitments into action. We share what we achieve together to show more organisations what they could do. We are an international non-profit organisation, founded in 2004, with offices in London, Amsterdam, Beijing, New Delhi and New York. We are proud to be part of the We Mean Business coalition. 

About Climate Week NYC

Climate Week NYC is the biggest annual climate event of its kind, second only to COP. It’s a time and place where the world gathers to showcase amazing climate action and discuss how to do more. Run by the international non-profit Climate Group, in partnership with the United Nations and the City of New York, Climate Week NYC annually brings together voices from across the spectrum to debate and implement climate action. With over 500 events taking place as part of the official events program and hosting the most significant leaders from business and government, Climate Week NYC is one of the largest annual climate summits of its kind attracting global awareness and participation.