UN Climate Action Summit: EU committed to lead global fight against climate change

The EU joined the United Nations Climate Action Summit on 23 September with a strong story to tell: a story of delivering on our promises, preparing for a climate-neutral future and working with partners around the world for ambitious action.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened the UN Climate Action Summit in New York to boost global climate ambition and rapidly accelerate action to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. 

Countries and stakeholders were invited to bring to the table their plans for enhancing action and accelerating transformative change to cut emissions and strengthen adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

The commitments undertaken at the Summit were impressive in numbers, in particular from the countries most affected to date by the impacts of climate change. Sixty-five countries and sub-national economies committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, while 70 countries announced they would boost their national action plans by 2020 or have started the process of doing so. 

Small Island Developing States made a collective commitment to raise the ambition and move to net zero emissions by 2050, including 100 % renewable energy by 2030 and the transition to climate resilience. The potential to harness nature to help combat climate change was prominently featured, also in view of next year’s Biodiversity Summit. The President of Chile launched the Climate Ambition Alliance, which the EU joined on the basis of its ongoing process towards commitments for climate neutrality by 2050.   

Mobilising the private sector is key to global climate goals. Over 100 business leaders delivered concrete actions to align with the Paris Agreement targets and speed up the transition to a green economy, including asset-owners holding over $2 trillion in assets and leading companies with combined value also over $2 trillion. 

Many countries and over 100 cities – including many of the world’s largest – announced significant and concrete new steps to combat the climate crisis. Moreover, the Summit was preceded by days of unprecedented activity, including a large climate march organised by Fridays for Future, and the Youth Climate Summit, bringing together several hundreds of young activists and entrepreneurs in an open and productive format including workshops and discussions.

The EU’s story

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The EU’s position at the summit was among the most ambitious and confirmed the bloc’s commitment to climate ambition.

Represented by European Council President Donald Tusk (pictured above), the EU demonstrated solid progress on the preparation and finalisation of its long-term strategy for climate neutrality by 2050 and the over-delivery of its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, thanks to a comprehensive body of detailed laws and measures. 

When fully implemented, these should enable the EU to achieve around 45 % emissions reductions compared to 1990 levels by 2030 – going beyond the target of at least 40 % outlined in the EU’s nationally determined contribution.

For the longer term, a large majority of European leaders already support the European Commission proposal to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. The long-term strategy is an opportunity not only to modernise the EU economy for a sustainable future and give citizens a better quality of life, but also to offer the rest of the world a model of economic and social transition in line with the urgency of the climate challenge.

Stepping up cooperation

At the summit, the EU also highlighted how it is stepping up outreach and cooperation – both financial and technical – with all partner countries towards the joint implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. 

Nationally determined contributions will lie at the core of the EU’s support, especially in critical sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, urban development or agriculture and forests.

The EU continues to be the world's leading donor of development assistance and biggest climate finance provider to developing countries. Providing over 40 % of the world's public climate finance, the EU and its Member States’ contributions have more than doubled since 2013, exceeding EUR 20 billion annually. The EU is fully committed to further scaling up the mobilisation of international climate finance.

The EU is at the forefront of efforts to build a financial system that supports sustainable growth and shifts investments towards sustainable climate-friendly technologies and businesses.

Sustainable investments will be mobilised through the upcoming ‘European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus', which foresees EUR 60 billion for investment towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement in partner countries.

Support from citizens and global outreach

Ahead of the summit, the European Commission presented a Communication on the Climate Action Summit and published the results of the latest EU-wide public opinion survey on climate change, which shows that European citizens are concerned about climate change and support ambitious action to tackle it at all levels. 

According to the survey, 93% of Europeans consider climate change a serious problem. There is widespread support for national and EU actions to tackle climate change and transition to a fair, climate-neutral economy, and citizens are also increasingly taking personal action. 

In the run-up to the next UN climate conference, COP25, in December, the EU’s climate outreach will continue with Climate Diplomacy Weeks during September and October organised by EU Delegations and embassies of several EU Member States around the world.

Conferences, public debates, exhibitions, film screenings and other outreach activities aim to foster dialogue and cooperation on climate change, showcase success stories and inspire further action. Inspired by the global youth movement, a key theme for this year's events is youth and climate.

More information

•          Commission Communication on the 2019 Climate Action Summit

•          Eurobarometer on climate change

•          Climate Diplomacy Weeks