The StateUp Guide to UNGA & Climate Week
How to attend and stream, further reading, opinion, and more
UNGA78, Climate Week, and all the side events: our guide to help you navigate your way though a feast of talks and events where global leaders debate the policies and technologies shaping our future, whether you’re attending in-person or online.
It's a double-whammy in New York this week with the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting alongside Climate Week NYC.
Both are a feast for policy wonks and anyone interested in engaging in key conversations on addressing major, global public needs.
To keep you from getting lost in event overload, our guide highlights key talks and events where global leaders and thinkers will debate the policies and technologies that will shape our future.
19 September
Leaders’ Dialogue 6 Mobilising finance and investments and the means of implementation for SDG achievement
4.30pm – 6pm EST (From 9.30pm GMT+1)
As part of the UN’s high-level SDG summit, more than 20 countries, including the UK, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, will take part in this dialogue. It will be followed by keynote remarks from Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and Co-Chair of the Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group.
A core theme will be where investment comes from and ensuring it is used effectively to support resilience-building efforts.
How to watch the dialogue: Tune into UNTV online
Further listening: The ODI’s Think Change podcast episode - Halfway to 2030, are the SDGs still relevant? (ODI CEO Sara Pantuliano, host, will also appear on our panel on international collaboration at the Mastercard for Government GovTech Idea event in collaboration with StateUp).
StateUp View: Dr. Eszter Czibor, Head of Research
“Insurers are too little mentioned in climate finance and de-risking conversations. Unavailability or unaffordability of insurance presents a major barrier to the adoption of low carbon materials and technologies in major infrastructure projects across the globe. It’s vital that we avoid the emergence of ‘net zero coverage gaps’ where lack of insurance access might hold back the development, adoption or scaling of novel clean and green technologies.”
20 September
Climate Ambition Summit - High-Level Thematic Sessions
2pm-3pm EST (From 7pm GMT+1) Credibility of Net Zero through “Integrity Matters” implementation: Leadership by early movers and doers and the role of regulation
3pm-4pm EST Delivering climate justice: Accelerating ambition and implementation on adaptation and early warnings for all
4pm-5.15pm EST Accelerating decarbonization through collaboration and implementation
The UN’s Climate Ambition Summit hosts over three hours of sessions on Wednesday that cover how countries and organisations are addressing climate policy and emergencies.
The first session is expected to provide insight from businesses, financial institutions, and cities and regions who have already made progress on delivering on their net-zero pledges. It will also cover how financial authorities and regulators are trying to move from voluntary pledges to mandatory rules and standards that meet net zero targets.
At 3pm the summit will move on to hear about the UN’s plan for its Early Warnings for All Initiative that aims to ensure that every person on earth is protected by an early warning system for events caused by climate change by 2027. The Delivering Climate Justice session will have an update on the Adaptation Pipeline Accelerator, which aims to pioneer coordination among governments, development partners and other public and private financiers, around the adaptation priorities of developing countries.
There will be three topics covered during the 4pm sessions: industrial decarbonisation, supercharging global battery storage deployment, and critical energy transition minerals. You’ll hear from first movers in these areas and discussion on the need for stronger international cooperation.
How to watch the UN sessions: Tune into UNTV online
Further reading: StateUp will soon be launching a report with Internews presenting key evidence on climate information needs on the frontlines of climate change. Follow our social accounts to make sure you don’t miss it!
Learn how partners of our recently launched Water and Energy in Built Systems Innovation Alliance are seeking to bring cooperation and collective ambition to decarbonising the built environment, responsible for an eye-popping 38% of carbon emissions.
UN Finance for Development Summit - Segment 1: Innovative approaches and partnerships to boost private finance for the SDGs
3pm-4.20pm EST (From 8pm GMT+1)
The preview of this roundtable at the Finance and Development Summit acknowledges that “efforts to increase private investment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), under way even before 2015, have not shown sufficient progress”.
Increasing private investment in developing countries is one of the greatest challenges to achieving sustainable development and resilience. We look forward to seeing where governments and corporations see opportunities for progress.
How to watch: Tune into UNTV online
Further reading: On 19 September StateUp’s Head of Research Eszter Czibor will launch our new report with Challenge Works on how challenge prizes can help to effectively address pressing public needs at scale.
21 September
GovTech Idea - Government, Technology, and the Future of International Cooperation session
2.10pm-2.55pm (From 7.10pm GMT+1)
This UNGA week StateUp is collaborating with Mastercard for Government on GovTech Idea, a new event focused on government technology.
Across the world, there is a vital need and opportunity to engage technology to unlock shared prosperity, principles, and mutual security. Governments seeking to harness the potential of digital technologies to strengthen the resilience of their nations and to better serve citizens must increasingly collaborate.
StateUp CEO Tanya Filer will discuss how governments can best cooperate to harness the possibilities of technology with panellists from the World Bank, ODI and the Brookings Institute Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative.
Further reading: Our work on The Future of Science & Technology Cooperation between the UK and Israel
The September issue of Foreign Policy packs a punch, arguing, against the backdrop of UNGA, that ‘multilateralism is at a dead end, but powerful blocs are getting things done’.
StateUp View:
"To make the most of technology innovation to improve citizens’ lives, governments must also embrace innovations in international cooperation."
Read 5 Questions with Tanya Filer by Mastercard for Government ahead of GovTech IDEA
22 September
The 2023 Marketplace of the Future
2.30pm-10pm EST
Inspired by the 1939 New York World's Fair, aka the "World of Tomorrow", the Marketplace of the Future is an expo of organisations developing creative climate “solutions”.
Featuring 40 exhibitors, speakers, live music and an open bar, you can spend all afternoon at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York.
Expect compost, carbon capture, renewable energy, and electric vehicles, and more.
How to attend: Buy a ticket, which start from around $40
Climate Week 2023 at Columbia Climate School
17-24 September
Climate Week NYC’s official university partner, Columbia Climate School, has organised a range of events on campus.
On 21 and 22 September leading journalists from around the world will participate in Climate Changes Everything: Creating a Blueprint for Media Transformation at Columbia Journalism School.
Hosted by Columbia Journalism Review and publications such as the Guardian, it aims to challenge newsrooms “to tackle the climate story with more urgency, depth, and creativity than ever before”.
How to take part: In-person tickets have sold out but you can register for the livestream here
Further reading: StateUp’s pioneering report on Green Technologies and public policy in Latin America in collaboration with CAF Development Bank.
Watch this space for a deeply evidenced report on climate information needs from StateUp in collaboration with Internews coming soon.
What events will you be attending this UNGA & Climate Week? What would you like to see leaders discuss, but think is missing? Let us know on LinkedIn, Twitter (#TheNewPPT) or via email.