31 July 2014: The UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) has issued a call for nominations for civil society speakers and attendees for the UN Secretary-General’s 2014 Climate Summit, to be held on 23 September at the UN Headquarters in New York, US. The deadline for speaker nominations is 15 August.

UN-NGLS is conducting an open process to obtain nominations at the request of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team (CCST). The call is open for nominations for four civil society speakers and 34 civil society attendees, 18 of which will receive travel funding. One speaker role is open for a young woman from a developing country, to deliver a speech on behalf of civil society at large at the opening of the Summit. Three further speaker roles are open for panelists in a thematic debate on ‘Voices from the Climate Frontiers,’ organized by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women. All funded attendeew are required to have a proven track record in advocacy or implementation of community-based solutions for climate change mitigation or adaptation.

UN-NGLS will facilitate the selection process through a civil society Selection and Drafting Committee, which will also collaborate with the opening session speaker on her statement. The deadline for applications for the Selection and Drafting Committee is 8 August, and the deadline for submissions of civil society speaker nominations is 15 August.

The Climate Summit will aim at catalyzing ambitious action to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience, and mobilizing political will toward an ambitious, legally binding international climate change agreement by 2015. Participants will include Heads of State and Government, and leaders from business, finance and civil society. Civil society speakers and attendees will also include participants in ‘Action Area Sessions,’ which are aimed at securing commitments in the areas of agriculture, energy, forests, cities, financing, pollutants, resilience and transportation. [UN-NGLS Announcement] [UN-NGLS Twitter Account] [UN 2014 Climate Summit Website]