UNited for Climate Justice – New York Conference

On the occasion of this year’s annual conference taking place on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly under the support of UN Secretary General A. Guterres, The Foundation for European Progressive Studies and its partners in this initiative brought the timely and urgent question of Climate Justice to New York city.

After a year-long journey of gathering many high-level experts, academics, members of the civil society, business and politicians, FEPS is glad to have fostered in New York (19-21st September 2019) such a urgent discussion on how to face environmental injustices stemming from social and economic injustices with progressive values. The United for Climate Justice Steering Committee, chaired by Hon. Minister Teresa Ribera has put forward an extremely relevant policy paper with five guiding proposals aimed at the Progressive family. Do you want to get to know our proposals in a 2’ minutes video? Click right here

Kicking- off with a photo exhibition by award-winning photographer, Ashley Cooper, FEPS and its partners welcomed all speakers and participation’s on Thursday 19th September, followed by a two-day conference “United for Climate Justice”. On Friday 20th September, after the opening remarks by FEPS President, Maria João Rodrigues, we had the honor of welcoming Hon. President Mary Robinson who delivered a very inspiring keynote speech stressing the need for political will but also to not underestimate the power of the youth and the women to be strong actors of climate action.

On that same morning, Luis Alfonso de Alba shared a few insides and prospects of the extraordinary Climate Summit. Then, we had the opportunity to hear a deeply emotional call from Edel Moraes (Amazonia), an insightful presentation by Maria Damanaki but also the chance to discuss with Laurence Tubiana, MEP Javi López, Benedicta Lasi, Rick Smith and Michael Williams on how to take responsibilities to bring about effective and sustainable climate action. Closing the first day with a call for action, Maj Jensen and László Andor invited all the participants and speakers to get a dose of real activism and join on the NYC Climate Strike with Greta Thunberg.

On the second day (Saturday 21st September) László Andor welcomed Hon. Minister Teresa Ribera who shared interesting insights on the work of the United for Climate Justice Steering Committee but also on her Ministerial function ahead of the Summit and the COP 25 in Chile. Following that, we were privileged to welcome many high level speakers such as Sharan Burrow, MEP Miriam Dalli, Arancha González, Minister Heyman (Canada), Minister Dan Jørgensen (Denmark), Andrea Horwath and a representative from Minister Keriako Tobiko (Kenya). They engaged in a lively discussion on how to make climate ambitions a reality, sharing best-practices but also the different challenges each would face to make it happen. Delivering the closing remarks, Maria João Rodrigues highlighted the great inputs that happened throughout the conference but also the FEPS mission to continue fostering a progressive, positive and participatory discussion on Climate Justice.

Looking for more information on the initiative and its main outcomes? Have a look at the Executive Summary with a foreword of FEPS Secretary General, László Andor.

Check out here the pictures of the event and our participation at the NYC Climate March.

Do you want to hear more from our high-level speakers? You can also find our interviews with

• Hon. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation, Chair of the Elders here (interviewed by Lászlo Andor, FEPS Secretary General)
• Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation here (interviewed by Maria João Rodrigues, FEPS President)
• Edel Moraes, Vice President, National Council of Local Communities, Brazil here (in PT only) (interviewed by Maria João Rodrigues, FEPS President)
• Céline Charvériat, Executive Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy here (interviewed by Lászlo Andor, FEPS Secretary General)
• Ana Pirtskhalava, IUSY Secretary General here (interviewed by Lászlo Andor, FEPS Secretary General)

Read the article by FEPS President Maria Joao about the UN Climate Action summit