World leaders on Monday said they would put forward a new plan to combat the climate crisis at a special climate summit in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly debate.
German Chancellor , Angela Merkel and French President , Emmanuel Macron are among those due to appear.
However, the U.S. President, Donald Trump is notably absent from the speakers’ list, instead he was set to take part in an event on religious freedom on Monday.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told political and business leaders to bring plans, not speeches to the event, and encouraged pledges to abandon fossil fuels and slow the rise in global temperatures.
Greta Thunberg, who has inspired a global student-led movement demanding policymakers implement concrete solutions to curb climate change, will take part in a youth dialogue with Guterres and other young activists.
Around 60 countries are expected to build on their commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are among those due to speak.
Leaders of countries with plans to open new coal plants, including Japan and South Korea, are absent from the Summit.
