• Climate Group’s new to-do list calls for seven bold actions to cut emissions within a year.
• IPCC data highlights a critical need for a 43% reduction in global emissions by 2030.
• Leaders urge governments and businesses to stop delaying and start implementing these strategies immediately.

At Climate Week NYC, the Climate Group called on governments, businesses, and the global climate community to adopt a far more urgent approach to tackling the emissions gap. The “Global To-Do List” offers seven specific actions to keep the world on track for the necessary climate goals within the next 12 months.

The challenge is significant. According to 2022 IPCC data, global emissions must drop by 43% by 2030 to avoid catastrophic climate change, meaning a 5% annual decrease. Yet, despite the growth of renewable energy and electric vehicle sales, emissions have barely budged. In fact, coal and oil use has increased, and even the U.S., under its most climate-focused administration, only managed a 1.9% reduction in 2023.

“We can’t keep making ambitious commitments but then only half implementing them,“ said Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson OBE. “We can’t afford to waste another year. One year, seven actions—this is our call to arms.“

The announcement comes ahead of COP29 in Azerbaijan, a petrostate hosting the event for the second consecutive year, underlining the urgency of action beyond political agreements.

The Global To-Do List:

1. Support coal workers: Provide compensation, such as three years’ pay for workers if coal sites close early, enabling a faster coal phase-out by 2030.
2. Unleash renewables: Governments must dismantle the bureaucratic barriers to renewable energy expansion. Climate Group urges immediate action to meet the G20’s 2030 goal of tripling global renewable capacity.
3. Ban coal-based furnace relining: The continued use of coal for steel production must stop. Electric furnaces and green hydrogen should become the industry standard.
4. Address methane emissions: Governments need to establish an agency with authority to audit fossil fuel companies and tackle methane leaks by COP next year.
5. Boost energy efficiency: Energy efficiency measures in buildings and businesses should be prioritized. Every business should target a 5% efficiency increase in the next 12 months.
6. Sustainable procurement: Governments and businesses should use their purchasing power to drive markets toward cleaner steel, concrete, food, and 100% renewable energy.
7. Tax oil and gas companies: A modest tax on oil and gas imports could generate billions to support the transition to cleaner energy.

“These actions are concrete, doable, and proved,“ added Clarkson. “There’s no reason to waste another year—we simply can’t afford to.“

The “Global To-Do List” will be officially launched with a video featuring Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter and Eugenia Kargbo, Chief Heat Officer & Senior Heat Strategist for Freetown City Council.

“Our response to climate change is sluggish,“ said Lenton. “We need to go a lot faster. Every year of delay is a year of counting more body bags.“

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Kargbo echoed the urgency, highlighting the severe climate impacts already being felt in Africa. “People are dying. It’s time to stop talking and start taking action.“

Climate Week NYC’s rallying cry, “It’s Time,” urges immediate, concrete measures to bring down emissions before it’s too late. The event gathers global leaders, business executives, and activists alike, unified in the belief that the next 12 months are critical for our planet’s future.’