The Global Climate Action Summit
What's At Stake
Leaders from across the globe met in San Francisco to step up their actions to meet our climate goals.
The Global Climate Action Summit marked the midpoint between the historic signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015—which vowed to limit global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius—and its next scheduled step in 2020, when countries will bolster their commitments. Hoping to recapture the same ambitious spirit of the Paris Agreement, the summit allowed leaders to share their successes so far—and then announce new initiatives that raise the bar. Organizers expected the Global Climate Action Summit to be the biggest climate event ever held in the United States.
NRDC played a key role in developing the summit’s robust programming, which was split into five key challenge areas—healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean stewardship, and transformative climate investments—and featured hundreds of affiliate events. Just prior to the summit, activists also took to the streets, both in San Francisco and in sister cities around the world, for the Peoples Climate Movement—mobilized marches in support of “climate, jobs, and justice.” Organizers positioned the rallies to demand bold action from leaders.
The historic summit’s message was loud and clear: Americans and the rest of the world are still firmly in the Paris Agreement—and accelerating action to help solve our greatest global crisis.
Tell President Biden and key officials to keep doing more to fight the climate crisis
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80%+
The percentage of the global boreal forest that grows in Canada and Russia. A panel at the Global Climate Action Summit discussed the "Northern Forests: Defusing a Global Carbon Bomb and Conserving an Essential Climate Mitigation Tool,” bringing together representatives working in Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Alaska.
1500
The expected number of electric taxis to be used in the Medellín, Colombia, by 2020. Medellín was one of 12 new cities to join the C40 Green & Healthy Streets (Fossil Fuel Free Streets) Declaration during the Global Climate Action Summit.
74
With the addition of 10 new members announced at the Global Climate Action Summit, the Powering Past Coal Alliance—a group committed to phasing out coal power—is now up to 74 members.
800M
The number of people that will suffer a decline in living standards if climate change is not addressed. That’s half the population of South Asia.
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