Climate Week NYC is an annual climate event that took place from September 17-24, bringing together business leaders, civil society representatives, and policy change makers from around the world to drive climate action. This event is hosted by Climate Group, who aims to have a world of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and partners with the United Nations General Assembly.
Climate Week started with tens of thousands of protesters, calling for U.S. President Joe Biden to stop approving new oil and gas projects. Many protesters felt frustrated with Biden’s increased drilling for oil and fossil fuels overseas. New York’s 14th district Representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, joined the protest to oppose the use of fossil fuels. Ocasio-Cortez rallied, “We have to send a message that some of us are going to be living on, on this planet 30, 40, 50 years from now. And we will not take no for an answer.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assembled a new Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, September 20. He announced that only leaders from nations that have new and meaningful action will be allowed to speak at the summit. Some nations that were not given time on the podium include the U.S., China, India, and the UK.
According to Guterres, the world is on the way to warming 2.8 degrees Celsius, or 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Guterres continued to call for faster cuts in heat-trapping emissions and helping poorer countries shift to renewable energy, as well as an end to fossil fuel subsidies. The U.S. pledged $100 billion to helping poor countries deal with climate change, but has not done so.
During Climate Week NYC, many executive series were held including decarbonization, accelerating sustainability throughout the economy, and building trust with AI for an equitable future. Many new opportunities were discussed, including rearranging restrictive regulations and market barriers to allow corporations to invest in renewable energy. With increased investments, countries will be able to capitalize on solar energy and contribute to a greener environment.
Furthermore, the transportation necessary to move chemicals, concrete, steel, aluminum, copper, and glass contributes 30% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Climate Week NYC featured a series on how to tackle the companies, regulators, supplies, and producers needed to ease a transition into open-source roadmaps and frameworks. This series proved that political and economic roadblocks make it difficult to implement clean energy initiatives. Many private companies are attempting to decarbonize in the next several years, but rising interest rates and supply chain issues make these actions difficult.
Many individuals have questioned the validity of this summit as a whole as key leaders were not present, including British prime minister Rishi Sunak. NYC Climate Week is also criticized for being a mixture of meetings as opposed to an actual conference. However, many leaders were able to discuss the latest developments and develop projections for the future.
The number of carbon dioxide emissions the world must reduce within the next seven years to reach the climate-fighting goal is 22 billion metric tons. This is estimated to cost the world $4 trillion to $5 trillion each year. While the expense and efforts appear overwhelming, fighting climate change requires one step at a time to push global action.
