Climate Week NYC brought together thousands of cities, businesses, the finance sector, youth, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to explore all-of-society solutions to the climate crisis. While the climate community held meetings across Manhattan, the United Nations strategized its approach to global issues at the Summit of the Future, focusing on global security and governance reform.
For both “halves” of the week—UN reform in the first half and climate ambition in the second—ICLEI leaders were there every step of the way, sharing solutions from home and advocating for global systems to accommodate local government needs.
First, we look inside the walls of the United Nations Headquarters on the east side of Manhattan.
United Nations Changes Must Include Local Governments
Ahead of the official meetings between UN member states, local leaders strategized on digitalization, peace, and more at the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments, organized by the UCLG. Though sustainable development goals are set at the global level, essential services like waste pickup, education, safe streets and more are provided by local or regional governments. Thus, the resources and legal capabilities of these governments should be considered when setting global priorities. In the words of ICLEI Global Executive Committee member and Mayor of Fort Collins, CO, Jeni Arndt, “The more we come together, the more we get the work done. How could I be running a city without taking input from the people and communities? How do you run the world without consulting cities?”
UN Secretary General António Guterres agrees. Earlier that morning, in a meeting with his Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments (two-thirds of which are ICLEI mayors), the Secretary General delivered clear support for mayoral involvement in global discussions. “Local and regional authorities must have a much stronger voice … in decision-making in the multilateral system,” he says.
With this input in mind, the Summit of the Future ultimately requested that the Secretary General provide recommendations on how local governments can help the world’s sustainable development and climate goals go faster, further, and be fairer for everyone. ICLEI looks forward to supporting these recommendations through the Advisory Group and Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments.
Climate Week Highlights City Finance Needs in the “Last Stop Before COP”
Turning from the general UN agenda to climate, NYC Climate Week provided a critical opportunity to ensure cities’ financial and legal needs are addressed in the Paris Agreement plans due in 2025. Climate Week NYC began in 2009 to increase awareness on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings — and has been a key annual advocacy event ever since. This year’s Climate Week NYC theme is “It’s Time,” and coincides with the UN’s reimagining its role in our world. The Summit of the Future focuses on global security and governance reform, making it a pivotal moment for local climate action.
The first ever CHAMP High-Level Political Dialogue brought local leaders to sit alongside national climate strategists. At this event, Mayors Arve, Bhalla, and Sefiani connected their city’s climate plans to national Paris Agreement plans and explained where national support is needed. Also this week, Finland became the 73rd country to join the multilevel governance movement and sign CHAMP, with support from ICLEI Vice President and Turku Mayor Arve. ‘
Lastly, ICLEI partnered with the COP29 Presidency and UN-Habitat to host the “Multisectoral Actions Pathways to Resilient and Healthy Cities” event. Here, COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev made his stance on multilevel collaboration clear: “We must collaborate to build a more solid bridge between cities and the climate funds in order to increase the flow of financing coming directly to the local and subnational levels of government.” This level of support from lead negotiators suggests that COP29 may lead to further grant and financing opportunities for city-level climate projects, depending on how much national governments can get on board.
Turning outside the walls of the UN, ICLEI advanced partnerships and discussed the just transition, finance and innovative technologies across New York City.
ICLEI was proud to partner with the U.S. State Department on the Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange, which featured dialogues on methane reduction through buildings and waste management. Also at Climate Week, ICLEI USA formalized its strategic partnership with ClimateView to accelerate climate action in the U.S. and beyond. Our intention to partner began this summer in São Paulo, Brazil, and after months of pilot testing and scenario planning, our organizations are ready to merge ICLEI USA’s deep technical expertise in urban sustainability action with ClimateView’s cutting-edge technology to deliver a next-generation platform.
Our Executive Director, Saharnaz Mirzazad, hit the ground running at her first NYC Climate Week with ICLEI USA. In addition to meeting with various ICLEI partners and members to strengthen our collective approach to climate resilience and action, Saharnaz sat alongside executives from Citi Group, MasterCard, Santander Mexico and others to make the immense demand for city-level infrastructure financing known.
As society shifts from a fossil fuel to renewables based energy system, we also must ensure no workforce or community is left behind. “Bridge makers” between investors and communities (such as ICLEI USA) can help translate community needs into financing parameters and vice versa, ensuring community priorities are at the heart of funding implementation. “At its core, funders must listen to the people on the ground impacted by climate change and let them lead the way,” she said, using Fresno, CA’s workforce training program for electric vehicles mechanics as an example.
