8 September 2014: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed Member States on the arrangements for the UN Climate Summit, to be held on 23 September 2014, at UN Headquarters in New York, US.

Ban thanked Member States for their engagement, and expressed his wish for them to come to the Summit prepared to galvanize political momentum around climate change. He announced the creation of two additional Ministerial sessions during the afternoon of the Summit, due to high demand. Having just returned from the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), he said that he saw the value of focusing on multi-stakeholder partnerships, which the Summit aimed to foster.

Bob Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, announced that 120 Heads of State and Government have confirmed their attendance, making the Climate Summit the largest gathering of such leaders on climate change in history. Given the tight schedule, he stressed the need for statements to be limited to four minutes. He also indicated that thousands of journalists had already registered to attend, and that there will be three different media stakeouts. Orr announced two goals for the Summit: to achieve the greatest political impulse for a global climate agreement in 2015; and to engage key actors for on-the-ground action. He emphasized that the Summit is not a negotiation.

In response to questions from Member States, Orr indicated that: statements will be posted online; five delegates are welcome to accompany their Head of State; room and speaking assignments will be released soon; and the Summit Chairs will formally present a summary of the meeting to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. [IISD RS Sources]