World leaders gathered in New York are putting climate action under the spotlight, using this week’s UN summit to lay the groundwork for November's Cop30 meeting in Brazil.
With the United Nations General Assembly in full swing in New York this week, world leaders are preparing for a climate summit on Wednesday, aimed at injecting urgency into the faltering global fight against warming.
The meeting is widely seen as a staging post for November’s Cop30 in Belém, Brazil, where nations are expected to deliver the next big leap forward on climate action.
More than 110 heads of state, alongside business leaders and campaigners, are attending the sprawling Climate Week NYC, which boasts over 1,000 events.
The message from the sidelines is clear – progress is happening, but nowhere near fast enough.
“We’re here to power on,” said Helen Clarkson, head of The Climate Group, at the week’s opening. “It’s an uphill struggle, but we know we don’t have a choice. It’s up to us to protect what we love.”
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Moment of contrast
The summit comes amid sharp contrasts. On the one hand, investment in renewables has surged to $2 trillion last year – double the outlay on fossil fuels – with solar now 41 percent cheaper than the cheapest fossil alternative.
“The economic case is clear,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a renewables gathering. “The momentum is real.”
On the other hand, the United States – host nation and historically a climate heavyweight – has been singled out for what analysts call the “biggest backslide in history” on climate policy.
Climate Action Tracker warned that recent rollbacks under President Donald Trump represent the most aggressive reversal they have ever documented.
Trump himself turned heads with a broadside against climate science during an address to the United Nations on Tuesday, using the moment to claim global warming is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
His stance has left allies dismayed but also galvanised others to press ahead regardless.
“Despair is not leadership. Fear has never built anything,” Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest said in New York.
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Spotlight on China
All eyes, however, are on Beijing, as Chinese Premier Li Qiang will open the summit, with an update expected on his country’s 2035 emissions-cutting plan.
China is the world’s top polluter, responsible for about 30 percent of greenhouse gases, yet it is also racing ahead in green technology, from solar to electric vehicles.
Analysts expect China to pledge a modest reduction – “single digit to low double digit” percentage cuts – which may disappoint campaigners but still signals intent ahead of Cop30.
Crucially, Beijing is on track to peak emissions five years earlier than promised, thanks to its rapid roll-out of renewables.
“China has already become the green tech superpower of the world,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society, who expects the country to under-promise but over-deliver.
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Hope, with caveats
UN climate chief Simon Stiell is trying to keep the mood balanced between warnings and hope.
Without global cooperation, he says, the world is heading for five degrees of warming.
Now the trajectory is closer to three – still dangerous, but progress nonetheless.
“This new era of climate action must be about bringing our process closer to the real economy,” Stiell told delegates, launching a new “Build Clean Now” initiative to fast-track green industries.
Small island states, meanwhile, are making their voices heard.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne reminded leaders that “every degree of warming is an invoice” his Carribbean nation cannot pay.
Vanuatu and its allies in the Pacific are preparing a push at the UN General Assembly to require stronger action, citing this year’s International Court of Justice ruling that governments are legally bound to act.
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Setting the stage for Brazil
With just weeks before Cop30 gets underway in Belém, the pressure is on.
Only 47 of 195 countries have submitted their updated national climate plans, even though they were due last February.
China and the EU are expected to show their hands in New York, while others may follow suit.
The idea is to give negotiators in Belém a clearer sense of where the world stands ahead of the summit's opening on 10 November.
The context is sobering, as the planet is already around 1.4°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, just a sliver below the 2015 Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold.
Scientists warn that without sharper cuts, that goal will soon slip out of reach. Yet leaders here are keen to frame the summit as a springboard rather than a dead end.
As Stiell put it, “We are bending the curve. Still too high – but bending.”
(With newswires)
