Glen White Opens Sustainability LIVE Climate Week NYC 2024
“We must have a plan.”
That was the main message from Glen White, CEO of BizClik and Sustainability Magazine as he took to the stage to open the inaugural Sustainability LIVE Climate Week NYC held on 24 September 2024.
“We must have a plan,” he said. “Global sustainability is the priority. There are global actors. It's not the countries, it's the businesses. The businesses can make the difference. The companies can make the change. You can impact the agenda, you can educate the consumer. Net zero education, sustainable supply chain, humanitarian and social impact.
“We can all do better. Let's do better. Let's try harder. Let our voices be louder.”
As a Climate Week NYC accredited event, Sustainability LIVE Climate Week NYC is one of the many events taking place throughout New York this week as part of the world’s largest climate week of its kind.
“I went to the Climate Week NYC opening ceremony on Sunday,” Glen told the audience of invited CSOs. “I listened to the CEO of Climate Week, Helen Clarkson, and she was fabulous. I then sat through some of the sessions that weren’t quite so fabulous and all I heard from them was it's time.
“But I've been hearing people talk to me about ‘its time’ since about 2007 – 17 years ago. That's a long time for it to be time.
“I don't think it's time. I think we must have a plan. And one of the things that you'll hear from me, one of the things you will hear I think from the amazing speakers we have today is that we must have a plan. And that plan has to be now – not COP29, not COP30.
“It needs to be now.”
Prioritising sustainability at global events
Climate Week NYC is one of many events throughout the year around the world that bring leaders together to bring meaningful change to reduce the impacts of climate change. Glen believes that sustainability needs to start at home, and highlights hypocrisy at COP29 later this year:
“I'm not going because I wasn't impressed with the fact that they decided there would be 28 men and no women until they have to be forced into doing it,” he said.
“As a man, I get quite inspired by the fact we have 22 different portfolios at BizClik. Sustainability is obviously one of those signature portfolios, but it is actually the only portfolio that has more women than men. So we are getting there, but you can go to some of our communities and it's majority men and we need to find that equal balance.”
Building a sustainability community
“At Sustainability Magazine, we're building a community of like-minded people,” Glen explains. “This is not about us, this is about you. Our job is to facilitate. Our job is to be your platform. Our job is to write the content that you tell us. It's not our content. It's all about you. We will share your best practice.”
“The green economy is growing incredibly fast, and that needs to be embraced by Sustainability leaders, you guys, the CSOs.
“Your voice needs to resonate through the boardroom from the shareholders through to the CEO and the CFO who agree the strategy, who write the checks.
“You need to fight in those boardrooms for your voice to be heard, for your programmes to be funded, and for sustainability to be seen as the most important driver for the future of your businesses.
“The future of our world, the future of the planet, the future of not my children, but my children's children. I'll be long gone by the time some of the things we're talking about come to fruition. But I know that if we don't do it, we're in big trouble.”
“So – we must have a plan.”
Thanks
To our sponsors – HH Global and The Economic Development Council of New York
To our speakers
To our attendees
To our team
Essential diary dates for 2024 and 2025…
Sustainability LIVE continues to expand its events with more to come in 2024 and 2025, discover our essential diary dates below.
2024 diary dates:
- Sustainability LIVE: Diversity & Inclusion | 12 November 2024
- NEW | The CSO Network
- NEW | ClimateTech Digital
- NEW | Scope3 Magazine
2025 diary dates:
- Sustainability LIVE Malta | 20th February 2025
- Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero | 5-6 March 2025
- Sustainability LIVE Singapore | 18 March 2025
- Sustainability LIVE Dubai | 22 April 2025
- Sustainability LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June 2025
- Sustainability LIVE London | 9-10 September 2025
- Sustainability & ESG Awards | 10 September 2025
- Sustainability LIVE: DE&I | 11 November 2025
******
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024
******
Sustainability Magazine is a BizClik brand
