What to watch this year at UN75

The last two weeks of September is the time when the United Nations General Assembly meets to adopt the agenda of the coming year and Heads of States and Governments convene for a general dialogue and UN Summits.

In 2020, all events will be held virtually and the two feature moments will be the celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations on 21 September, and Biodiversity Summit on 30 September.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, local and regional governments and their networks – including ICLEI – made their voices heard through the response of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments to the UN75, facilitated by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). 

Local and regional governments will be represented at the Biodiversity Summit by Montréal Mayor Valérie who serves as ICLEI’s Global Ambassador for Local Biodiversity.

Here are the highlights:

18 September: FAO launch of the Green Cities initiative, endorsed by major networks including ICLEI, UCLG, C40 

21 September: 75th Anniversary celebrations. See local government and regional government input here.

21 September: UNFCCC Race-To-Zero Announcement     

22 September: New Pathways: Cities Leading the Way. Hosted by UCLG at the SDG Action Zone.

23 September: Leading with Local Action: U.S. Local Governments Contribute to Global Processes Past, Present, Future (ICLEI Webinar) Register to attend.

23 September: City Climate Finance Gap Fund Launch 

24 September: Achieving the Global Goals through Local and Regional Governments Actions. Register here.

24-25 & 28-29 September: Nature4Life Hub 

30 September: UN Biodiversity Summit where Montréal Mayor Valérie will represent ICLEI and the voices of local and regional governments.

For more events, follow the action at Climate Week NYC and the UN SDG Action Zone and check out this compilation of UNGA and related events: https://ungaguide.com/