Strategic Momentum for Climate Change Action

The United Nations Climate Summit in September 2014 succeeded in introducing momentum to global climate change action. More than 100 heads of state, 170 countries, 300 leaders from civil society organizations and research and financial institutions, and 250 subnational actors (cities and municipal entities) delivered pledges and commitments. How can the reverberations of the Climate Summit continue to mobilize political will, catalyze climate action on the ground, and change the narrative and global vision around climate change?

This policy dialogue brief reflects the discussion of possible avenues for collaboration among initiatives and steps needed to follow up on the Climate Summit on the way to the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris in December 2015, where countries will write a new international agreement to tackle climate change.

This brief, drafted by the Stanley Center, captures key ideas expressed in the roundtable on climate change at the center’s 55th annual Strategy for Peace Conference. The roundtable took place October 15–17, 2014, at Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia.