By Tulesi Suresh
From September 17-24, senior international figures from business, government, civil society representatives, and protesters gathered in NYC for Climate Week. Now in its 15th year, it is a key time for these industries to showcase what they are doing to work towards a better planet. Action must be taken quickly.
Climate Week NYC brings together over 400 events and activities across the city, including major announcements, panels, interviews with international leaders, and performances from protesters. The event is held in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly, and it precedes the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which is in November. Climate Week begins to let international experts into the city and push them to collaborate before COP28.
This year, the week’s theme was ‘We Can. We Will.’ This represents determination and a hopeful promise but also recognizes that work thus far has not been enough. Three main questions were posed at the beginning of the week:
- Where must investment be channeled, and what vested interests need to be held accountable?
- We know we have the solutions to the climate crisis. But how do we ensure they are implemented?
- Where have we picked up our biggest wins so far and how can we use the collective will of the climate community to remain inspired, stay the course, and continue to drive climate action, fast?
Notably, the world’s two biggest polluters were not invited to speak at a special climate summit convened by the United Nations. These two countries are the United States and China, showing that countries must earn a spot through action, not through projections or rhetoric. The only official from the U.S. invited to speak at the event was Governor Gavin Newsome of California, who has announced that California will be suing oil companies.
Many other conferences at Climate Week NYC have tackled challenging climate topics. However, Earth-focused drag shows and ice cream giveaways highlighting climate risks to food have given Climate Week comparisons to “Burning Man for the climate geeks”.
The summit exposed gaps in phasing out fossil fuels among global leaders and a lack of international financing. There was a positive tone shift for some countries–some pledged to save forests, and civil society groups launched programs to reduce emissions in developing countries. Still, none of the world’s biggest polluters made new commitments.
