Here are the remarks of the UN Secretary General at the London Climate Week – Local Climate Action Summit, as received from UN RCO Turkmenistan:
London, 23 June 2026
Dear friends,
It is a great pleasure to be back among leaders who are not waiting for change – but delivering it.
This morning, here in London, I delivered a message to the world.
And no better place to do it than London. We just heard why, thanks to the action of the Mayor and his team in the city during the last 10 years.
We are facing two crises.
A climate crisis racing toward dangerous tipping points.
One in which a temporary overshoot of the 1.5-degree limit is now inevitable – and every fraction of a degree will decide how much damage people and communities face.
And an energy crisis unfolding before our eyes – driving up prices, fuelling inflation, and straining families, communities and public finances.
The two crises share the same source:
Fossil fuels.
And they demand the same answer:
A fast, fair transition to clean energy – and far greater protection for people already facing climate harm.
No group of leaders understands this more concretely than you.
You are where global ambition meets daily reality – and where commitments are tested through local responsibility.
You are the leaders closest to the people – the first they turn to when heat rises, floods hit, or power fails.
My message was also clear: the clean energy future is already here.
Renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most reliable source of new power.
But the transition is still not fast enough, not fair enough, and not close enough to people’s lives.
That is why local and regional leadership is central in this regard.
Because climate action becomes real through the services people rely on; the infrastructure they use every day; the air they breathe; the bills they pay; and the protection they receive when disaster strikes.
And because you are turning the clean energy future from a global promise into something people can see, feel and trust – city by city, region by region, community by community.
Today, I have three asks of you.
First – keep leading and overdelivering.
Cities, states and regions are already setting the bar higher than most national governments and showing what 1.5-aligned action looks like.
Your actions give investors certainty and citizens confidence that climate targets will be realized.
And you can go further still – by turning ambition into practical solutions at scale.
Second – keep using your voice and political influence.
In many countries, climate action is under attack from partisan politics and fossil fuel interests.
But public support remains high.
Four out of five people worldwide want their governments to take stronger climate action.
Stand up to fossil fuel interests and their political enablers.
Support science and counter disinformation.
And use your offices and platforms to tell the story of climate action:
Better homes, better transport, better jobs, lower bills, and cleaner air.
Third – keep working together and supporting each other.
Geopolitical tensions and divisions are rising precisely when international cooperation and solidarity are most needed.
In today’s fractured world, governors, mayors and local representatives are proving that cooperation can still deliver.
Your networks and coalitions are practical, powerful and global.
Continue to share what works – practical models that others can adapt and scale, from clean energy and resilient infrastructure to local finance and community engagement.
Continue to prove that solidarity is stronger than division.
Dear friends,
The climate fight will not be won in negotiating rooms, but through the actions we take in our communities.
As we enter this era of implementation, local leaders like you have an even greater responsibility to ensure that transition moves faster, becomes fairer, and delivers security, resilience and prosperity for all.
Greater responsibility should come with a greater say – in national and international processes – and you have my full support.
And I hope we can transform the UN in order to make local power a voice more heard and more followed in the work of the United Nations.
Keep pushing national governments further.
Keep delivering for your communities.
Keep showing what climate leadership looks like.
And know that the United Nations will keep working closely with you – every step of the way.
Thank you. /// nCa, 25 Jun