Climate Week NYC 2022 Gets Off The Ground Running

Climate Week NYC 2022 gathers the most influential leaders in climate action from business, government, and the climate community. In conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly and the City of New York, it creates a very ambitious platform to drive climate action. Fast.

The event is taking place from September 19 – 25, 2022. The Climate Group organizers started with a main program of in-person events in New York. Then it spread to over 500 events spread across 10 themes and located in New York and around the world. With the big picture goal of “Getting It Done,” Climate Week NYC 2022 is in the process of celebrating climate action, challenges everybody to do more, and explores ways to increase ambition.

Climate Week NYC 2022 inspires, amplifies, and provides a global platform for connection and discussion.

What are some of the key sessions that have taken place so far at Climate Week NYC 2022?

Recapping the Beginning of Climate Week NYC 2022

Like so many of us, you’re ready to pick up where Covid left us off to explore and confront where we have fallen short to mitigate climate action. Here’s a review of days one and two — you just gotta dig into these event highlights at Climate Week NYC 2022.

Monday: Opening ceremonies were fascinating and far-reaching.

• “Climate in the geopolitical context of today” examined how climate, energy, food, and global security are more connected than ever.
• “The cold truths for a warming world: What’s stopping us from ‘Getting It Done’?” outlined ways to ensure how climate commitments are delivered, what gaps are widening and how to stop them, and why fossil fuel investment hasn’t stopped.
• “Putting equity back into our economy: Making the green economy work for everyone” looked at ways to deliver funding and associated projects in an equitable way that advances racial, economic, and environmental justice. It also sought to prioritize projects that create well paying climate jobs and a climate workforce for the wider clean economy.

Tuesday’s event calendar offered sessions that ranged from green and clean economies to stand-up comedy that introduced climate conversations to zero emissions possibilities across the globe — and so much more.

• “Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy and a Green Economy” described how supporting businesses and industry to maximize energy and resource efficiency while simultaneously overcoming the barriers they face are essential to ensure societies can transition to net zero while continuing to provide economic stability to our communities.
• “Stand Up for Humans,” brought to the comedy stage by nonprofit accelerator AGO and Save the Humans, was a combined stand-up comedy, a short film screening, and “a hosted journey into a new kind of climate conversation.” The inclusive event’s goal was “to catalyze positive action through humor and a local, life-centric approach.”
• “Zero Emission Trucks in India – How can we capitalize on the opportunity?” explained how medium and heavy trucks comprise 2% of the vehicle population but contribute to over 30% of the overall road transport emissions. This disproportionate share of emissions drives the need for a transition to Zero Emission Trucks and posed questions to policy makers, automakers, civil society, and donors on ways to unlock this opportunity in India.
• “Financing for a fairer future in Latin America” explored possibilities in Latin America where there is strong and growing interest in net zero investments in energy, transport, waste, and agriculture. The panels helped to align government visions with commercial opportunities and explore concrete opportunities for meaningful progress this decade.

Final Thoughts

If you’re bummed that you missed out on these sessions and aren’t satisfied enough by clicking through to an event’s posting, have you tried the Climate Week NYC 2022 Digital Magazine? There’s a welcome article about the sub-themes for this year’s event; if you read nothing else, read this. It describes:

• Urgency: With a clear deadline in sight of 2030 to halve emissions — part of a longer process of avoiding the most catastrophic effects of warming — this incredibly ambitious emissions target is compounded in difficulty due to the multiple large scale crises currently facing the world. Against this backdrop, politicians and other stakeholders may suggest that the climate and the energy transition shouldn’t be top priorities. How can we keep up the level of urgency and ensure that the intersection of zero emissions small steps do not slip down the agenda?
  Accountability: It’s true that there are now more ambitious climate commitments across all sectors than ever before, but they’re not worth anything if they’re not delivered. How will we know if we’re Getting It Done? How do we learn from one another’s successes and share best practices and innovations? How can we create a space in which we can also learn from failures and setbacks?  In an age characterized by distrust, how do we use the tools of accountability to allow us to Get It Done at the breakneck pace the climate crisis demands?
• Climate justice: Policies must promote prosperity for all people, and business strategies must support all of society. The rewards of investing in people, equity and justice are clear. We must maximize the benefits of climate investments and ensure programs are designed to deliver funding and associated projects in an equitable way that advances racial, economic, and environmental justice.

While all these exciting Climate Week NYC 2022 events are swirling around us, it’s important to remember the impact that individuals and organizations can have to create positive climate action. Effective immediately, the Chouinard family, of Patagonia fame, has transferred all ownership to two new entities: Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. Most significantly, every dollar that is not reinvested back into Patagonia will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet.

Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder, former owner, and current board member, said:

“If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have. As the business leader I never wanted to be, I am doing my part. Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source. We’re making Earth our only shareholder. I am dead serious about saving this planet.”

This is the message that Climate Week NYC 2022 hopes to impart to us all.