Heads of States and Governments and other leaders met last week to define pathways towards accelerated climate action and increased ambition amid massive march in the streets of New York, calling for an end to fossil fuels.

The Climate Ambition Summit (CAS), was held on the sidelines of the yearly General Assembly meeting and included leaders of countries, states, cities and companies, and coincided with a U.N. Security Council meeting on the war in Ukraine, which for a second year has dominated the assembly’s agenda.

CAS represents a critical political milestone for demonstrating that there is collective global will to accelerate the pace and scale of a just transition to a more equitable renewable-energy based, climate-resilient global economy.

Leading up to the summit, around 100 heads of state responded to UN Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres’ call for increased climate action. However, only representatives from 34 states and seven institutions were given speaking slots at the forum.

Surprisingly, the major economies crucial in shaping global emissions reduction efforts such as China, the United States, and India, collectively responsible for 42 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, were noticeably absent from the stage. Only a few countries were among the speakers, along with emerging economies like South Africa and Brazil. But the European Union, Germany, France, and Canada also had a presence.

Guterres, who set the tone for the summit, reminded delegates that “humanity has opened the gates of hell,” leaving current levels of climate action “dwarfed by the scale of the challenge.”

He presented concrete action points proposed in his acceleration agenda, including phasing out coal by 2030 for countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and by 2040 for all other countries; eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and overhauling multilateral development banks to support climate action.

It included replenishing the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and upholding the $100 billion climate finance commitment and operationalising the loss and damage fund at the upcoming meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

He stressed that the poorest nations have a “right to be angry” about lagging ambition, lacking climate finance, and skyrocketing costs of credit to address climate impacts.

Several speakers said the outcome of the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement should serve as a course correction to achieve the 1.5°C target. Momentum seemed to be growing to adopt a goal to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030.

The countries addressed credibility standards for net-zero commitments, adaptation and early warning systems, industrial decarbonisation and energy transition, and loss and damage finance.

Developing countries and others underscored their support for the UNSG’s “Early Warning for All” initiative, with several offering to share lessons learned through South-South cooperation.

Governments offered to share experience in emissions trading schemes, recognizing the need for all possible sources of finance. High-emitting industries like steel and cement were a target for raising ambition.

Executive Director, GCF, Mafalda Duarte, said the GCF is a “unique mechanism, full of potential,” but needs reform to optimise access and reduce transaction costs. She outlined the “50 by 30” vision to increase capitalisation from $17 billion to $50 billion by 2030 and focus more on country- and sector-wide programmes to transform whole systems, with a focus on the most vulnerable.

The Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, emphasised eliminating implicit subsidies as well to free up a total of $7 trillion for potential spending on the green transition.

Kenyan President William Ruto, highlighted the Nairobi Declaration adopted at the Africa Climate Summit earlier in September 2023 and called for a universal tax on trade in fossil fuels.

Founding Director, Power Shift Africa, Mohamed Adow, said Africa needs to manufacture and deploy its own technology at home, rather than importing from the Global North and becoming “locked in” at the bottom of the value chain.

Incoming UNFCCC COP 28 President Sultan Al Jaber, emphasised his aspiration for COP 28 to deliver progress on: closing the mitigation gap; phasing down fossil fuels while phasing up zero-carbon alternatives; tripling renewable energy by 2030; and supporting the energy transition by minimizing permission timelines and “supercharging” investments in battery storage and energy efficiency.

He encouraged all countries to sign the leaders’ declaration on food systems, agriculture, and climate action, noted COP 28 will feature a ministerial dialogue on climate and health, and said mayors will be invited to showcase their achievements at COP 28.

Guterres noted the event had “started as a climate ambition summit and ended as a climate hope summit.” Despite expressing disappointment over the G20’s action being stalled by a persistent divide between developed and emerging economies, he emphasised many actors are willing to align with the 1.5°C target. He urged all the climate “doers” to scale up action, bring people together and “take no prisoners.”