Ban Ki-Moon Summit Announced

As the Warsaw UN climate change negotiations comes to an end, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s leaders summit on climate change has formally been announced.

Robert Orr, assistant general-secretary of strategic planning, revealed the summit to be held in New York on 23 September 2014. This one-day event is now formally in the UN calendar and is being held traditionally when the general assembly session would open. Ban’s summit will engage with heads of states, as many already attend ‘UN week’, the business sector and civil society.

Similar to the leaders summit that was hosted in the lead up to Copenhagen, Ban is hoping to engage with world leaders on the road to Paris 2015. Currently there are no plans to negotiate a text or any formal agreement. Orr also stressed that the event would complement the UNFCCC process but not overpower it. With the summit still being a work in progress, there is hope that there will be the potential for breakthroughs in ambition.

Orr reiterated the importance of the ‘open’ summit to have public participation.

By Shruti Neelakantan, photos by Laura Owsianka and Reuters.