---
title: Civil society leaders call clean energy as a right at UN Climate Summit
date: 2026-09-24T00:30:02Z
modified: 2026-09-24T00:30:02Z
permalink: "https://350.org/press-release/civil-society-leaders-call-clean-energy-as-a-right-at-un-climate-summit/"
type: press-release
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 175531923
author: Débora Gastal
timestamp: 2026-09-24T00:30:02Z
tags: []
---

_As governments gather for the UN Climate Summit, civil society leaders are calling for climate commitments to be turned into action, with polluters-pay principles and clean, affordable energy as a right at the forefront_

**New York, September 23 –** Outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres is convening the UN Climate Summit today, seeking to raise ambition to keep 1.5°C within reach, phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. In his opening speech, he renewed his call to “make polluters pay” and to phase out fossil fuels, urging world leaders to show clear progress on their national roadmaps.

350.org commends the Secretary-General’s courageous and consistent defense of climate action throughout his mandate. As he nears the end of his term, António Guterres is making a determined final push to galvanize world leaders to act.

Civil society leaders at the summit are calling on countries to lead by transitioning now to affordable, resilient renewable energy and to put justice at the center of that transition.

**Speaking at the Civil Society Organizations Leadership Panel, Anne Jellema, Executive Director of 350.org, said:**

_“We have heard many times today that the question is no longer whether we should end our addiction to fossil fuels, or even if we can. The challenge now is to do it fast enough to stem the tide of destruction and death while we still can, and to do it in a just and equitable way that creates opportunity and prosperity for everyone. This demands vision and courage from national and local leaders, but it also needs countries to move together._

_Yet, since as civil society our job is to speak frankly, let me name the elephant that is still hiding in this room: International cooperation on climate has become as gridlocked and fractious as the streets of Manhattan outside this building today._

_Citizens must hold fossil fuel companies to account and demand that governments make polluters pay. It is not right. These companies keep pocketing enormous sums, while leaving the public to pay for the harms that they have known full well that they are causing. And it is time to demand affordable clean energy as a right for all and not as a privilege. Citizens should demand that governments support and scale up the bottom-up renewable energy revolution, by shifting fossil fuel subsidies to 100% renewable solutions that will provide abundant, reliable energy to all regardless of income and make energy poverty a thing of the past, creating health and wealth for all._

_In a situation like we are today, where every fraction of a degree matters, so too every voice is needed. In times as politically challenging as these, citizens’ demands for accountability and their hopes for a better and safer future are the most powerful levers that we have.”_

[Watch the full remark here](https://youtu.be/D0F8kvhOilI)

**ENDS**