People attend a “Fridays for Future” demonstration at the fish market in Hamburg, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025, as part of an international day of action. (Marcus Golejewski/dpa via AP)
Protesters with “Make Polluters Pay” campaign, calling on billionaires and fossil fuel companies to contribute financially to climate action, demonstrate as part of a national demonstration demanding economic and climate justice, ahead of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference and UK Autumn Budget, in London, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (David Parry/PA/PA via AP)
A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty in chains protests at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate march in New York, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
An art piece of Jeff Bezos with bloody hands carrying the globe is marched through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
World, business leaders hope to keep momentum in fight against climate change despite US
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The U.S. government is going in the other direction. Temperatures keep rising. More extreme weather is sweeping across the world. Yet hundreds of leaders from government and business are in New York this week to keep the fight against climate change alive. Amid fracture and despair, they are emphasizing progress and hope.
People attend a “Fridays for Future” demonstration at the fish market in Hamburg, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025, as part of an international day of action. (Marcus Golejewski/dpa via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The U.S. government is going in the other direction. Temperatures keep rising. More extreme weather is sweeping across the world. Yet hundreds of leaders from government and business are in New York this week to keep the fight against climate change alive. Amid fracture and despair, they are emphasizing progress and hope.
More than 110 world leaders will speak at a special U.N. climate summit Wednesday designed to get nations to strengthen their required 鈥 but already late 鈥 plans to wean themselves from the coal, oil and natural gas that causes climate change. Dozens of business leaders are in the city networking in various conferences aimed at greener and cleaner energy.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to power on. In the end, we either will have a livable planet or we won鈥檛,鈥 said Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group, kicking off New York City Climate Week and its more than 1,000 events. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an uphill struggle, but we know we don鈥檛 have a choice. It鈥檚 up to us to protect what we love.鈥
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But on Monday, as leaders talked about stronger national plans and reduction in fossil fuel emissions, Climate Action Tracker, an independent group of scientists who track pledges to fight climate announced that the host nation 鈥 the United States 鈥 had the biggest backslide in history.
鈥淭his is the most aggressive, comprehensive and consequential climate policy rollback the CAT has ever analyzed,鈥 said Niklas H枚hne, a New Climate Institute scientist who helps run the tracker.
In much of the rest of the world, progress
But non-U.S. leaders in politics and business highlighted how much of the world has switched to cleaner renewable energy, such as solar and wind, mostly because of price.
鈥淭he economic case is clear,鈥 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Global Renewables Summit. She said 90% of new renewable projects generate power more cheaply than fossil fuels, and solar energy is now 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil alternative. “So yes, the momentum is real.鈥
Last year the world invested $2 trillion in renewable energy, twice as much as the fossil fuels that spew heat-trapping gases, several leaders said.
Just 10 years ago when the world’s leaders adopted the Paris climate agreement, the planet was headed to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming above pre-industrial times. Now it’s on track for 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), said United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell. But it’s not near the Paris goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), Stiell said.
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“We will have inched forward so progress is being made,” Stiell said. He said the unanimous consensus process of international negotiations is 鈥渄ifficult, but it is delivering.鈥
Some are not as bullish
But it’s not enough and too slow, said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s climate change minister. His country and other small island nations and vulnerable states plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly 鈥 which goes by majority rule, not unanimity 鈥 to follow up on the International Court of Justice’s must act on climate change. Vanuatu’s resolution won’t be proposed until after November’s climate negotiations in Brazil, he said.
Places such as Antigua and Barbuda are 鈥渦nder siege for a climate crisis we did not create,鈥 Prime Minister Gaston Browne said of his nation, which has been hit by four Category Four and Five hurricanes in a decade. 鈥淓very degree of warming is an invoice, literally a demand sent to small islands that we cannot afford to pay.”
The nations of the world all were supposed to come up with new five-year plans for curbing carbon emissions by February, leading into the Brazil negotiations. But only 47 of the 195 nations 鈥 those responsible for less than a quarter of global emissions 鈥 have done so. U.N. officials said they should be submitted by the end of this month so experts can calculate how the world is doing in its emission-reduction efforts.
The world’s biggest emitter, China, and another top polluter, the European Union, are expected to announce their plans or rough sketches of their plans this week. The United Nations session Wednesday is designed to cajole countries to do more.
Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest tried to cheer business and world leaders on Monday. 鈥淒espair is not leadership,鈥 Forrest said. 鈥淔ear has never built anything. We鈥檙e here today to lead by your very example.鈥
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The Associated Press鈥 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
