Devolved Ministers attend landmark New York Climate Week

Andrew Muir, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for the Northern Ireland Executive, Gillian Martin Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy for the Scottish Government, and Huw Irranca-Davies Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs for the Welsh Government met ahead of the opening of the landmark Climate Week New York City.

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir pictured with Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy for the Scottish Government & Huw Irranca-Davies Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change & Rural Affairs Welsh Government

Climate Week NYC’s overall message this year is “It’s Time”: celebrating those driving climate action, challenging everyone to do more and exploring ways to increase ambition. Climate Week NYC inspires, amplifies and scrutinises the commitments, policies and actions of those with the power to make change happen, while pushing the transition into the mainstream of business and government, showing what can be achieved. 

Ministers discussed the need to deliver urgent action on climate change in the three nations, the importance of ensuring a just transition to net zero, and the criticality of working together towards our shared UK wide goals. While each nation faces different challenges and will have their own priorities, the twin imperatives to act now and to act fairly means embracing the benefits of collective action.

Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to share knowledge and experience to help each other make progress on reducing emissions, creating climate resilience and working together to create the conditions for real, lasting and fair change across the three nations. Ministers are looking forward to working with the new UK Government Ministerial team to further drive climate action across the UK. 

Andrew Muir, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for the Northern Ireland Executive, said: “I am delighted to be able to join my Scottish and Welsh Ministerial colleagues this year to attend New York Climate Week as a member of the Under 2 Coalition. Climate change is one of my top priorities. Attending this key event enables us to put Northern Ireland on the global stage and engage with others about ways to both tackle and grasp the opportunities arising from climate change."  

Deputy First Minister of the Welsh Government, Huw Irranca-Davies said: “This needs to be the decade of action. We are showing leadership and commitment by setting our ambitious targets, but it’s time to focus on action and the wider benefits of taking action such as clean air, better homes and places to live and work. I am pleased to have the opportunity to showcase Wales’s success stories, and to connect with colleagues in Governments across the world to share solutions and work together towards this most important goal.” 

Gillian Martin, Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy for the Scottish Government said: “It is time to move from ambition to action and I am honoured to be here to further build influence of devolved states and regional governments within the international climate debate all whilst having a strong focus on capacity building. I believe Devolved Administrations can learn from each other as we accelerate a just transition to net zero. There was a real impetus amongst us all today to continue these conversations ahead of COP29. Scotland has a unique opportunity as Under 2 European co-chair and Regions4 president to continue championing other subnational governments.” 

During their visit to New York, Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers will be attending a range of events and engagements which will include meeting with Ministers, Heads of States, Governors and business leaders.

Notes to editors: 

1.New York Climate Week takes place every year in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and is run in coordination with the United Nations and the City of New York. It brings together heads of government, climate leaders, action takers, and innovators from the world of business, government, politics, technology, academia and civil society.

2. Climate Week is hosted and run by the Climate Group, the secretariat of the Under 2 Coalition.

3. Northern Ireland have been members of the Under2 Coalition since 2021. Scotland and Wales are also members.

4. Membership of the Under2 Coalition provides an opportunity for regions and states, like Northern Ireland, who are not a Signatory Party to the Convention of Parties (COP) to show their commitment and ambitions to tackling climate change.

5. Governments signed up to the Under2 Coalition can access technical support and resources to assist in developing long-term emissions reduction plans as well as information exchange / support network.

6. At present membership includes 178 regional / state Governments. The Climate Group is the Secretariat to the Under2 Coalition and works with Governments to accelerate climate action.

7. The Under2 Coalition is a global community of state and regional Governments committed to ambitious climate action in line with the COP21 Paris Agreement (i.e. Net Zero). It was established in 2015 and operates on a not-for-profit basis.

8.  Follow DAERA on X formerly called Twitter and Facebook.

9. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk or telephone: 028 9016 3460.

10. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours’ service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

Share this page