UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit to Highlight Bold New Approaches and Actions on Climate Change

New York, August 12, 2014 /3BL Media/ — Heads of State and Government will join leaders from business and civil society to announce new commitments and practical actions to address climate change at a Climate Summit hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 September.

The one-day Summit will mark the first time in five years that world leaders will get together to chart a bold, new course of action on climate change. The Secretary-General has asked leaders to announce significant and substantial initiatives to help move the world toward a path that will limit global warming.

“To accelerate political momentum and catalyze ambitious action on the ground, I have convened a Climate Summit on 23 September,” the Secretary-General said. “I have invited leaders from governments, cities, business, finance and civil society to showcase what they are doing to promote the transformative change we know we need. The world needs to see what countries are already doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

In addition to governments, leaders from the private sector, including from business and finance, will also announce significant new commitments.

“Solutions exist and we are already seeing significant changes in government policies and investments in sustainable ways of living and doing business,” Mr. Ban said.  “The race is on, and now is the time to for leaders to step up and steer the world towards a safer future.”

According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world is presently on a path that would well exceed the two degree Celsius (3.6⁰F) rise in temperature limit that countries have set to ensure that the world would not suffer the worst impacts of climate change.

The report also presented many scenarios and pathways to a more secure future.  Through action in critical areas, such as energy, agriculture, cities, forests, and by building resilience—with proper financing—countries and communities can still build healthy economies while reducing carbon emissions.

The Summit will consist of an opening ceremony, announcements by Heads of State and Governments, announcements by the private sector, the launch of new initiatives that address key action areas by coalitions of governments, businesses and civil society organizations. There will also be sessions that focus on critical aspects of climate change, including science, people living on the frontlines of climate change, the societal benefits of action, and the economic case for action on climate change. The Secretary-General will summarise the outcome of the day at the closing ceremony.

Key Media Opportunities at the Climate Summit

Journalists are encouraged to cover the Climate Summit either in person or from their home countries.  All sessions will be webcast http://webtv.un.org and open to the media, although seating will be limited.  The sessions include:

• Opening Ceremony in the General Assembly
• Plenary announcements by Heads of State and Government
• Press Conference by the UN Secretary-General
• UN Private Sector Forum
• Eight action area announcements—Agriculture, energy, forests, cities, financing, pollutants, resilience, transportation
• Four thematic discussions—the economic case for climate action, voices from the frontlines of climate change, climate science, and climate, health, jobs.

The UN Private Sector Forum is part of the Climate Summit and provides a unique platform for Governments and business to demonstrate leadership on climate change. The theme this year is carbon pricing, focusing on actions that the public and private sectors can take to achieve an equitable and fair valuation of carbon through long-term strategies, investments and policies.

A maximum of 20 UN-accredited journalists will be given access to the luncheon segment (13:30 – 15:15) of the Private Sector Forum. Due to security precautions and space constraints, camera crews will not be admitted to the Private Sector Forum. However, a broadcast-quality signal will be provided in the media center.

Journalists interested in participating in the UN Private Sector Forum will have to register separately with the Global Compact Office, media@unglobalcompact.org.

Inquiries regarding the Private Sector Forum should be directed to Kristen Coco, UN Global Compact: cocok@un.org, +1-917-367-8566

Press Conferences: Most press conferences will be held in Room S-237. There will also be a number of stakeout areas where Heads of State and Government can address the media. These events are only open to members of the press who have a media badge.

The UN Secretary-General’s press conference (time TBC) will be open to all media and webcast. In addition there will be briefings throughout the day in the press briefing room, S-237. 

A full schedule of press conferences will be published by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Summit, including regular briefings by the spokesperson. A schedule of press briefings will be posted in advance online and a media alert will be sent out by e-mail each evening for the following day, with updates as needed.

As the Summit will be taking place during the week of the UN General Assembly’s General Debate, strict security procedures will be in effect and movement is limited. All media should expect security screenings throughout the building.

Side Events: All side events relating to the Summit and climate change will be taking place throughout New York City and in other locations as part of Climate Week NYC and will be posted at http://www.climateweeknyc.org/index.php. No official side events will be taking place at the United Nations during the Summit.

Accreditation: All members of the media will need accreditation.  Information on obtaining accreditation for the General Assembly can be found at http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/UNGA69.

The deadline to apply for media accreditation is Friday, 5 September 2014.

If you have a valid UN Media pass, you DO NOT need to apply for a separate badge to cover UNGA 69.

Coverage opportunities:

The Media Center will be in CR4 in the North Lawn Building (NLB) Please bring your headphones to listen to the programmes.

For the UNTV Transmission Guide, see http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/transmission

Access for TV crews and photographers will need to be escorted by MALU from the GA Liaison Desk (Third floor GA building) to access the booths in the meeting rooms.

Tickets for the fourth floor mezzanine: A limited number of tickets will be available at the GA Liaison Desk (Third floor GA building) for the morning and afternoon sessions. It will be distributed on a first-come first served basis.

The Rose Garden is open to media. No escort required.

Press Island: Media clearance for the use of press island (between 45th & 46th St. on the East side of 1st Avenue) is done through the City of New York. Please contact the NY Deputy Commissioner’s Office at 212-826-3228.

Webcasting: All Climate Summit sessions will be webcast. The United Nations webcast services will provide live and on-demand coverage of the plenary, partnership meetings and press conferences. The coverage will be available on the UN Web TV website at: http://webtv.un.org  in English and the original language of the speaker.

A live TV feed will be available from UNTV and photos can be downloaded from http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo. 

Social Media will play a key role in communicating information leading up to the Climate Summit. Please follow @UN and #climate2014 on Twitter. Also visit us on Facebook, facebook.com/unitednations.

Information on the Climate Summit can be found at www.un.org/climatechange/summit and further updates to this advisory will be posted there

For more information, please contact Dan Thomas from the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, daniel.thomas@un.org, Tel: +1 917 225 1913 and +1 212 963 6274 or Dan Shepard, UN Department of Public Information, shepard@un.org, +1 212 963-9495