World leaders renewed a call for climate action and a transition from fossil fuels as they convened at the 14th annual Climate Week in New York City.
Many attendees doubled down in particular on the need for global financial institutions to follow through on pledges to scale back the financing of oil, gas and coal projects, reiterating the growing material climate risks from these fossil fuels.
“We need to hold fossil fuel companies and their enablers to account,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. “That includes the banks, private equity, asset managers and other financial institutions that continue to invest and underwrite carbon pollution. And it includes the massive public relations machine raking in billions to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny.”
