Nonstate Climate Action at COP23 as a Stepping Stone to 2018

Like 2015, 2018 will be a critical year for the ‘groundswell’ of climate action to influence the UNFCCC process. In September 2018, California will host a summit for nonstate climate action seeking to strengthen subnational and private sector climate action. A successful summit will signal the opportunity for increased ambition in the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue and COP24 in December, where countries must indicate that they will raise ambition in their climate action plans by 2020. This will be a critical test of the Paris Agreement’s ratcheting mechanism and whether the world can reach the agreement’s objective of staying well below 2° C and pursuing best efforts to achieve 1.5° C.

This meeting will provide the opportunity for stakeholders across the ecosystem of climate action to align ahead of COP23 in 2017, in anticipation of significantly scaling up climate action for 2018. It will aim to capture and consolidate the key decisions coming out of the various relevant meetings during Climate Week, as well as the Climate Chance Summit in Agadir, Morocco, the previous week. The Stanley Center will hold this event in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council, World Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund, on behalf of Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Action.