Climate Week NYC: The Opening Ceremony’s Who, What & Why

Held in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly, Climate Week NYC is made up of more than 600 events and activities making it the largest annual climate event in the world. The event brings together leaders from companies, governments, organisations, charities and communities from around the world to unite them on climate action to drive positive change.

Climate Week NYC is hosted by Climate Group, an organisation working to drive climate action by building networks, holding organisations accountable and sharing achievements to highlight the possibilities. 

The opening ceremony, hosted in partnership with Saint-Gobain, highlights the theme of the festival – It’s Time. Uniting many leaders who will spread across the city over the next week, the opening ceremony is split into three key messages:

It's Time to course correct.

It's Time to speed up.

It's Time to finish the race.

The first speech of the day was delivered by Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, who believes that collaboration and communication are essential to end the impacts that climate change is having around the world. As she put it – “history will judge us.” 

She outlined five key principles to adopt now to save the future:

• Put people first
• Pay up 
• Listen to citizens
• Be honest
• Have difficult discussions about fossil fuels 

Her message? “Aim higher, be bolder, keep pushing forward. It’s time.”

It's Time to course correct

“We're living in a state of climate emergency,” Climate Week NYC highlights. 

“Emissions are still far too high to avoid overshooting a 1.5 temperature rise which can happen as soon as this year, for the first time ever. We cannot continue business as usual. Our efforts can no longer be piecemeal, and we cannot wait for those that are failing to take bold action. To prevent unimaginable and irreparable damage to the planet from taking hold, we must go where we have not gone before. 

“We must change course, now.”

Despite the incredible impact that climate change is having on The Bahamas, Philip E. Davis, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is positive – he sees “a wave of change sweeping the globe” and recognises the opportunity for economic growth and innovation that comes alongside climate action. 

His keynote speech – It’s Time to move past ‘business as usual’ – highlighted the shared responsibility that we all have to boost sustainable change, but that often the communities most impacted by climate change are those who have contributed least.

Phillip says we must: 

• Start treating the crisis like a crisis.

• Finance the just transition.

• Phase out the use of fossil fuels immediately.

• Bolster support for climate adaptation.

Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General’s speech, titled A planet in peril – the people at the frontline of the grim reality, emphasises that ‘the realities of water scarcity, food security, and threats to biodiversity will only worsen as floods and droughts increase in severity. We must do everything possible to guard the worst hit from the stark reality of the challenge we face now.” 

Patricia highlighted the possibilities that technology presents, specifically increased data and using AI to organise and understand it.

She said: “We are the first generation to suffer from climate change – and the last generation to be able to do anything about it.”

Patricia also highlighted that finance drives action – a message supported by the following panel.

The first panel of Climate Week NYC, titled 1.5 °C is near – what must the world do now? featured speakers:

• Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary General, World Meteorological Organization
• Ezgi Barcenas, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, L'Oréal Groupe
• Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway 
• Eamon Ryan, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Minister for Transport for Ireland

Moderated by Stephanie Abrams, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel, the session explored a mixture of legislative and organisational changes that will have a positive, immediate impact and highlighted the nature of the relationship between companies and governments with consumers and communities. 

The panel outlined an actionable list of priorities to slow the rise in global warming:

• What needs to be done to cool our planet now and avoid the catastrophic impact of global warming?
• How can we fast-track a sustainable shift in material consumption to bend the emission curve?
• How will upcoming NDCs need to evolve to keep the temperature target within reach?
• Can we place more emphasis on innovation to contribute to decarbonisation at scale and pace?

Will Jackson-Moore, Global Sustainability Leader at PwC believes that sustainability strategy must be embedded into wider corporate strategy, and be championed by CEOs of the world’s largest companies. His session – Reimagine, reinvent, respond: incentivizing businesses to make climate actions count – discussed how business leaders use disruption to drive transformation and position themselves to win in the journey to net zero. 

It's Time to speed up.

“All is not lost,” is a message made by many sustainability leaders. 

Climate Week NYC emphasises: “There’s undeniable momentum, and we’re winning more hearts and minds. The economic powerhouses of the world are in a fierce green competition driving long-term sustainable growth.”

Benoit Bazin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saint-Gobain’s session titled A future under construction – It's Time to accelerate sustainable living for all, explored how the construction sector. As IoT opens up opportunities for smart living and boosted efficiency, he asks – what must be done to scale the solutions in play and bridge the gap between protecting the environment and the people equally?

Furthering the conversation around technology, Mark Patel, Senior Partner at McKinsey explored how climate technology can be boosted to keep 1.5C in scope and deliver financial return. His session was followed by Jessica Anderen, CEO of the IKEA Foundation honing in on EVs, highlighting that “the benefits of electrification will need to be equally distributed to be realised.”

Finishing out the focus on speeding up current actions was a panel on Plugging the Finance Gap for Good, featuring:

• Kamal Kishore, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
• U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaiʻi 
• Moderated by Helen Clarkson, CEO, Climate Group 

The panel focussed on the climate finance commitment made to mobilise US$100bn in 2009 which will expire next year and we have yet to meet, and how our capitalist society must boost mobilisation of funds to secure a sustainable future.

It's Time to finish the race.

Secretary-General António Guterres said, years ago: “the climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win”, a message enforced at Climate Week NYC.

The final segment of the opening ceremony of Climate Week NYC explored:

• How do we stay inspired and defiant in the face of delayed action and a host of now unreachable commitments to the reversal of climate change? 
• How do we find a way through the tradeoffs and keep the public onboard for the green transition?
• How can we summon the collective will of the climate community to ensure we all win the race in a just and equitable manner? 
• What will it take to do so?

John Podesta, Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy to the President of the United States explored how the Inflation Reduction Act has changed the US approach to sustainability and how we, globally, can build on that success in the session Building a durable clean energy future – historic action for a historic age.

Following on the US-centric discussion, Michael Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Governor Bill Ritter Jr. - President and Chair of the Board (North America), Climate Group discussed climate action – how can bold action be inspired? 

Panellists Dr. Eva Riesenhuber, Global Head of Sustainability, Siemens, Priscilla Sims-Brown, President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank, Ben Jealous, Executive Director, Sierra Club and Luc Triangle, Secretary General, International Trade Union Confederation moderated by Angela Barranco, Executive Director – North America, Climate Group explored the importance of the green workforce. The panel asked:

• What measures must we take to build an economy which tackles the climate crisis as well as economic, gender, and racial disparity?
• How do we deliver on the promise of green jobs and upskill and empower the global workforce?
• How can we ensure the twin promises of economic growth and environmental protection to keep people and workers onside for the green transition?

Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil highlights the importance of indigenous peoples in the climate fight,  as “they manage at least one quarter of the world’s lands which is home to approximately 80% of our planet’s biodiversity.” She impores leaders at Climate Week NYC to listen to what the planet and the people who know it best are telling us, and what we can learn from indigenous communities to protect our future. 

The last session of the day came from Jacinda Ardern, The Former Prime Minister of New Zealand. The well-known leader has been a flagbearer for sustainability in many ways, and her session at Climate Week NYC was aptly titled A rallying cry - fighting for the common good and the activist in us all. 

Her message? “The window of opportunity is closing fast. We can and must act, now.”

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