SDG Summit 2023 | United Nations (16-19 Sept) and Climate Ambition Summit | United Nations (20 Sept)
Every September, the climate community looks to Climate Week NYC, North America’s predominant climate event, for all-of-society solutions from cities, businesses, youth, and more. Coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly meetings, outcomes can provide insights for what to expect later in the year at the UN Climate Conference (COP28) and beyond.
This year also features important UN summits on the Sustainable Development Goals (September 18th – 19th) and Climate Ambition (September 20th) — making for a truly “UN High-Level Week.” ICLEI will be on the ground in New York City with a delegation of 30+ mayors, governors, and local leaders to ensure local governments are driving progress on transparency, finance, and justice.
Mayors and other Subnational Leaders from ICLEI Network:
- Mayor Frank Cownie, City of Des Moines, and ICLEI President
- Mayor Abi Binay, Makati City, Philippines and ICLEI Global Portfolio Seat on Finance
- Mayor Mohamed Sefiani, Chefchaouen, Morocco, and ICLEI Global Executive Committee Regional Seat, Africa
- Mayor Anne Reynolds, Hobart Australia; Member of ICLEI Oceania RexCom
- Kumsil Kang, Climate Ambassador, Gyeonggi Province, Kori
- Mayor Sharon Dijksma, Utrecht Netherlands
- Satoshi Sekiya, City of Yokohama Representative to the Americas
- Mayor Marvin Rees, City of Bristol UK
- Marjorie Kauffmann, Secretary of Environment and Infrastructure, Rio Grande do Sul
- Mayor Ravi Bhalla, City of Hoboken USA and ICLEI USA Board Member
- Mayor Bibb, City of Cleveland, Ohio
- Rob Werner, Council Representative, City of Concord, New Hampshire USA
- Rit Aggarwala, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, USA
- Camila Assis, Multilateral Agenda Director, São Paulo, Brazil
- Luis Eduardo Peres Damasceno, Sustainable Development Coordinator, São Paulo, Brazil
- Mayor Samuel Verdeja Ruiz, Ocoyoacac, State of Mexico
- Mayor Marco Antonio Rodríguez Hurtado, Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico
- Diana Pérez Jaumá, Undersecretary of Planning for Sustainability, Yucatan, Mexico
- Mayor Samuel Verdeja Ruiz, Ocoyoacac, Mexico
- Jean Lemire, Canada Envoy for Climate Change, Northern and Arctic Affairs, Québec, Canada
- Mayor Eduardo Paes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Carlo Caiado, President of the City Chamber, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Tainá da Paula, Environment Secretary, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Pedro Spadale, International Relations and Cooperation Coordinator, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Lucas Padilha, President of the Committee Rio G20, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Mayor Paola Pabón, Pichincha, Ecuador, and the President of the Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE)
- Mayor Leonardo Orlando, Manabí, Ecuador
- Mayor Mohamed Sefiani, City of Chefchaouen Morocco
- Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, City of Hobart, Tasmania Australia
- Mayor Yawo Winny Dogbatse (Kloto 1, Togo), ICLEI CoM SSA RMF Chair and GCoM Board Member
- Satoshi Sekiya, Exective Director, The City of Yokohama Representative to the Americas
- Nikolai Muth, Project Manager, Office of the City of Yokohama Representative to the Americas
- Renato Casagrande, Governor of Espírito Santo, Brazil
ICLEI Staff
- Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General
- Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA
- Yunus Arikan, Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat
- Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
- Younglan Yoon, Policy Information Team Leader, ICLEI Korea Office
- Marisa Kellogg, ICLEI USA Project Officer, Cities Forward Initiative
AGENDA
16 September Saturday
09:00 – 17:00: SDGs Summit Local and Regional Governments Forum
Location: UN Headquarters
Host: United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) on Behalf of the Global Taskforce
ICLEI Role: Co-partner as part of ICLEI membership to GTF
ICLEI Attendance: Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken and ICLEI USA Board Member; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA
09:10-10:55: Torchbearers for the SDGs: Meaningful Youth Engagement & the 2030 Agenda
Location: ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters
Host: YOUNGO
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan,Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat, panelist
9.55 – 10.35: Spearheading Radical Acceleration: Youth Demands for People and Planet
Location: ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters
Host: The Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan,Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat, panelist
13:00-14:00: Coalitions led by the local and regional government constituency: scaling up acceleration of
the SDGs
Location: UN Headquarters, Conference Room 5
Host: Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments
ICLEI Role: Panelist
ICLEI Attendance: Mayor Ravi Bhalla, City of Hoboken, and ICLEI USA Board Member
19:00: Local & Regional Governments Forum Reception
Location: One UN Plaza
Host: United Cities and Local Governments on behalf of The Global Taskforce
ICLEI Attendance:
17 September Sunday
09:00 – 17:00: SDG Summit Local2030 Event
Host: UN Secretary General’s Office
ICLEI Role: Co-partner as part of ICLEI membership to GTF
13:00: The People´s March to End Fossil Fuels!
Location: 56th & Broadway
ICLEI Role: Guest participant
Registration Here
13:00 – 19:30: 15th Climate Week NYC Opening Ceremony
Host: Climate Group
ICLEI Role: Gino Van Begin, invited attendee
13:30-15:00: Localizing the 2030 Agenda: transformative coalitions with local and regional governments: SDG Summit Official Side Event
Location: CR2 – UNHQ
Host: Global Task Force & UCLG
ICLEI Role: Open floor participant
ICLEI Atedde: Mayor Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines and ICLEI President, speaker
15:30 – 17:30: Google Sprint
Location: Chelsea Market
Host: Google
ICLEI Role: Attendee
ICLEI Attendance: Angie Fyfe, Executive Director ICLEI USA
18:00-20:00: Unleashing the power of multi-stakeholder partnerships” organized by the 2030 Agenda Partnership Accelerator
Location: UN Headquarters, Conference Room 5
Host: 2030 Agenda Partnership Accelerator
ICLEI Attendance: TBC, speaker
18 September Monday
7:45- 8:30: American Leaders Advancing the SDGs; Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice
Location: 320 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017
Host: Brookings Institution
ICLEI Attendance: Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA; and Marisa Kellogg, Program Officer, ICLEI USA; attending
11:00 – 13:00: City of Hoboken, New Jersey, ResilientCity Site Tour
Location: Hoboken, NJ ResilientCity Park, 625-627 Jackson St, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Host: City of Hoboken + ICLEI USA
Interested to attend? Contact kale.roberts@iclei.org
13:15-14:45: SDSN Global Commission on Urban Finance
Location: MHR Fund Conference Room, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, between 54th and 55th St., 42nd Floor.
Host: SDSN
ICLEI Role: Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General attendance as member of the Group
14:00 – 17:00: UNFCCC Urban Global Innovation Hub ICLEI Session
ICLEI Role: Co-partner with UNFCCC
15:00: The World is Our Common Home: Path to the Global Zero Waste Movement
Host: First Lady of Türkiye
ICLEI Attendance: Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General; attend
16:00: Special Dinner “Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste
Host: First Lady of Türkiye
Location: Turkish House
ICLEI Role: Invited
ICLEI Attendance: Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General; attend
19 September Tuesday
07:30 – 09:00: From insights to action: using the World Risk Poll to inform climate resilient societies
Location: The Hub Live at Climate Week NYC Address: etcVenues, 360 Madison Avenue, New York City
Host: Climate Group and Lloyd’s Register Foundation
ICLEI Role: Participant
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan,Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat
7:30-9:00: Climate Group and Lloyd’s Register Foundation
Location: The Hub
Host: Climate Group and Lloyd’s Register Foundation
ICLEI Role: TBC, panelist
10:00-11:00: OECD’s Regional Climate report release
Location: TBC
Host: OECD
ICLEI Attendance: Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA, panelist
10:00-12:00: Whitepaper launch and panel discussions
on Urban Decarbonization at the Consulate General of Denmark in New York
Location: 666 Third Ave, 21st floor, 10017, NY.
Host: Consulate General of Denmark in New York
ICLEI Role: Represented
ICLEI Attendance: Represented by Sharon Dijksma, the Mayor of Utrecht, Netherlands
11:00 – 12:00: Global Covenant of Mayors Board Meeting
Location: Plaza Hotel
Host: GCoM
ICLEI Role: Supporting, ICLEI is a co-founder of GCoM
ICLEI Attendance: Yokohama Director, Mayor Binay, City of Hoboken USA and ICLEI USA Board Member; Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, City of Hobart, Tasmania Australia
11:00 – 13:30: Urban Climate Investment – LUCI Side Event
Location: Orrick – (51 West 52nd Street, NY 10019-6142)
Host: Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance
ICLEI role: Invited as a partner of CCFLA
ICLEI Attendance: Mayor Abi Binay, Mayor Abi Binay, Makati City, Philippines and ICLEI Global Portfolio Seat on Finance; Kale Roberts, ICLEI USA Senior Program Officer; Yunus Arikan, Global Director of Advocacy
11:30: EarthShot Prize Innovation Summit
ICLEI Attendance: Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General’ attending
13:30 – 15:00 Closed-door high-level roundtable on Urban Climate Finance
Location: MWE – McDermott Will & Emery (CPI Partner) at 1 Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY
Host: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
ICLEI Role: Observer-Panelist
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat
14:00 – 17:00: COP28 Presidency – Bloomberg Philanthropies
Location: “Plaza Challenge”
ICLEI Role: Co-partner as per agreement with COP28 Presidency and BP. ICLEI GexCom
ICLEI Attending: Mayor Abi Binay City of Makati Gyeonggi Province, Philippines and ICLEI Global Portfolio Seat on Finance Climate Ambassador
15:00-16:00 Private roundtable discussion on the desired outcomes for COP28 to accelerate
subnational climate action and enhance cooperation with national governments
Location: The Plaza Hotel
Host: Bloomberg Philanthropies and the COP28 Presidency
ICLEI Role: Attendee
ICLEI Attending: Mayor Cownie, City of Des Moines, IA USA, ICLEI President
18:00 – 20:00: Quebec Networking Climate Reception
Location: ZO Clubhouse, 1 Rockefeller Plaza, 33rd Fl., NY
Host: Quebec Government
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan,Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat; invited
18:00 – 20:00: Google Reception
Host: Google
ICLEI Attendance: Angie Fyfe, Executive Director of ICLEI USA
20 September Wednesday
UN Climate Ambition Summit 2023
Participation is open to local and regional governments who are aligned with the UN Secretary General High Level Expert Report on Climate Ambition Integrity Report Checklist for Cities and Regions
07:30-10:00: Unlocking Urban Energy Access and Poverty Breakfast
Location: Arup, 77 Water Street, New York, NY 10005
Host: the Global Covenant of Mayors and Arup
ICLEI Role: Attend
ICLEI Attendance: TBC
7:15-17:30: Nature Positive Hub
Location: Convene 101 Park Avenue, NY 10178
Host: Nature4Climate
ICLEI Role: Invited Guest
ICLEI Attendance: Ivana Benitez Landa, Professional Officer of Biodiversity and International Liaison, ICLEI Africa
08:00- 09:00: High Level 24×7 Carbon Free Energy Compact Side Event at UNGA
Location: 30 E 23rd St 8th Floor, New York (Solutions House)
Host: UN-Energy | SEforALL
ICLEI Attendance: TBC, panelist
09:00 – 16:30: Hybrid Meeting on Integrity Matters for Cities, States, and Regions
Location: 340 Madison Avenue, New York – 2nd floor.
Host: GCoM-WRI
ICLEI Role: Expert Working Group (Maryke)
ICLEI Attendance: Maryke, Dewi (Online), in-person (?)
10:00-12:00: GCoM Board meeting Part-2
Location: C40 office
Host: GCoM
ICLEI: Attendance: Satoshi Sekiya, Executive Director, The City of Yokohama Representative to the Americas, Yokohama Japan; Mayor Binay City of Hoboken USA and ICLEI USA Board Member; Lord Mayor Reynolds, City of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General; Yunus Arikan Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat
14:00 – 15:15: City, State, & Global Diplomacy: Bridging the Subnational and International in Foreign Climate Policy
Location: NYU School of Law, Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, 40 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012
ICLEI Role: collaborating partner to with Transatlantic Climate Bridge & Adelphi
ICLEI Attendance: with Mayor of Bonn as a virtual and ICLEI SG in-person panelist and additional bilaterals with the US Department of State Special Representative on Subnational Diplomacy
16:00: Sustainable Construction Observatory Talk
Host: Saint Gobain
ICLEI Role: Panelist
ICLEI Attendance: TBD
16:15-17:15: U.S. Mayors Meeting with Ambassador Nina Hachigian
Location: Lotte Plaza (455 Madison Ave, New York, NY.)
ICLEI Attendance: Mayor Cownie, City of Des Moines IA USA, attending; Ravi Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken, ICLEI USA Board; Council Rep. Rob Werner, Concord, NH Mayor; Mitch Reynolds of La Crosse, WI; Mayor Theron Smith of New Roads, LA
17:30 – 19:30: 2024 Climate Leadership Conference (CLC) and Awards (CLA) Ceremony
Host: The Climate Registry (TCR) and Arup
Location: ½ East 29th Street, New York, NY 1001
ICLEI Role: Partner
ICLEI Attendance: Angie Fyfe, Executive Director, ICLEI USA; Kale Roberts, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA; Marisa Kellogg, Program Officer, ICLEI USA
18:30-19:30: Launch and Reception of the Nature Positive Initiative and Partnership
Host: Nature Positive Initiative Core Group
Location: Convene 101 Park Avenue, NY 10178
ICLEI Role: Partner
ICLEI Attendance: Ivana Benitez Landa, Professional Officer of Biodiversity and International Liaison, ICLEI Africa
21 September Thursday
9:00 – 10:30: Harnessing the positive potential of AI for urban climate action
Location: The New School, 63 5th Ave, Tishman Auditorium, New York, NY 10003
ICLEI Role: Panelist
9:00-17:00: World Biodiversity Summit
Host: World Climate Foundation
Location: 849 6th Ave, New York, NY 10001
ICLEI Role: Attendee
ICLEI Attendance: Ivana Benitez Landa, Professional Officer of Biodiversity and International Liaison, ICLEI Africa
13:15-14:45: Friends of the Plastic Action Agenda
Location: 685 Third Avenue, New York City
Host: The governments of Samoa and the United States
ICLEI Role: Panelist
ICLEI Attendance: Yunus Arikan, Global Advocacy and Policy Director, ICLEI World Secretariat
17:00: COP28 Presidency Reception
ICLEI Role: Supporting partner as LGMA Focal Point
17:00: COP28 Subnationals Dialogue
Host: COP28 Presidency
22 September Friday
08:00 – 11:00: COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies Working Breakfast
Host: Bloomberg Philanthropies
Location: Bloomberg Philanthropies
ICLEI Role: Supporting partner as part of agreement COP28 Presidency and BP
9:00 – 14:00: Informal partners meeting 22 September 2023 on: “Biodiversity and climate resilient cities: bridging research, practice and innovation to accelerate change”.
Host: UN-Habitat
Location: UN-Habitat New York Office
9:00-14:30: Informan UN Habitat Partners Meeting on “Biodiverse and climate resilient cities: bridging research, practice and innovation to accelerate change”
Host: UN Habitat
Location: Two United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-0943, N.Y. 10017
ICLEI Role: Partner
ICLEI Attendance: Ivana Benitez Landa, Professional Officer of Biodiversity and International Liaison, ICLEI Africa
10:30- 12:30: Unlocking City Climate Action with Data and AI
Host: GCOM
Location: 345 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10010