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The 75th UN General Assembly takes place from September 15-30, with a virtual ‘high level’ event running from September 21. The opening session is called ‘The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism’. At a time of COVID19 uncertainty, geopolitical uncertainty and rising climate impacts this is an opportunity for the UN to show its value.

Guterres
There will be a number of strong climate themes running through both weeks of the General Assembly. Inside the venue UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will make at least 3 speeches focused on climate: in his opening address (Sept 15), at the Sustainable Development Goals summit (Sept 21) and at a high level climate virtual summit (Sept 24). Guterres will focus on the value of his ‘6 principles for COVID recovery‘ that include investing in green jobs, renewables and ending coal finance.

UK, US, EU
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will likely outline plans for the 2021 COP26 UN climate summit. Johnson will be making a number of speeches on health, climate and nature over the two weeks as his government seeks to set the narrative for the Glasgow summit. In addition we expect top US Democrats to be out in force to underline what a Biden presidency could do on climate, while the EU is tipped to be edging closer to its own 2030 climate target. Keep an eye out too for a number of developing countries tipped to deliver 2020 climate plans to the UN.

Corporate leaders
A range of multinationals also primed to announce new net zero strategies and supply chain standards. Commitments by business to carbon have soared in the last year, despite the COVID crisis, with new data out next week. Cities, regions and major investors are among those to put their names and support to this goal.