What is Climate Week and why should we care?

When you hear someone say they’re going to Climate Week, what does that mean? What is Climate Week and why would anyone want to go?

Climate Week—properly known as Climate Week NYC—is the brainchild of the non-profit organization The Climate Group and will run from September 22-29, 2024. Originally conceived in 2009 as a side event to the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York to provide some discussion prior to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties later that year, the event has since morphed into a sprawling, week-long takeover of New York City by anyone and everyone with an interest in climate action. And with over 580 events over a single week in 2023, with both in-person and virtual attendance options, the Climate Group estimates that the event reached over 6.9 billion people last year.

Here are four big reasons why we care about Climate Week (and think you should, too):

1. Proximity to the UN General Assembly means access to decision-makers. There are few events on the calendar where world leaders gather on a consistent basis, and most of those events do not happen in the US. The UN General Assembly opens its annual session every year on the third Tuesday of September, at the UN Headquarters in New York City, per UN rules. Because this event usually attracts delegations from all 193 countries that are members of the United Nations, this is an excellent time to get attention from global leaders. If you want to draw global attention to a global problem (like climate change) this is an excellent opportunity.
2. It serves as a warm-up event for the UNFCCC COP. The biggest event on the calendar where the global community looks to advance climate solutions is, without question the “COP”— which is the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC, which produced an international agreement on climate that is often referred to as “the Paris Agreement”). This year is COP29, and it will take place in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan. A lot happens at a COP—the parties to the Paris Agreement meet to continue negotiating the implementation of the treaty and to identify specific areas of concern and workstreams that need more attention and more action within the international community. Much of the year leading up to the COP (which is usually in November or December) is spent setting the agenda for the meeting and developing a set of priorities, setting the stage for progress during the two weeks of COP. Climate Week NYC comes at a critical moment during the run-up to the COP, where the parties who will participate in COP often meet before the COP to do some of this critical pre-work. One thing that we’ve learned since the pandemic (when meetings like this were relegated to Zoom calls) is that the in-person discussions at Climate Week help ensure these pre-work meetings are as creative and productive as possible.
3. Climate Week has become “ClimateCon”—something it turns out we need. For those who have been observers of Climate Week NYC over the years, it’s hard to miss that in recent years, New York City during Climate Week has taken on traits that make it feel more like a festival than a serious policy event. Whether it’s a person dressed up like a T-Rex roaming the halls of the Javits Center to draw awareness to climate extinction, a show in Brooklyn featuring environmental drag queen Pattie Gonia, or a march through the streets of New York with over 300,000 activists demanding climate action, it’s easy to see how a New York Times headline last year called Climate Week “Burning Man for Climate Geeks.”
   
   The real magic of Climate Week, however, is the fact that these more light-hearted, popular expressions of interest in climate action exist right alongside serious policy discussions and engaging panels. Climate Week becomes the place where all these different aspects of the global movement to fight climate change can find each other. Soon enough, many of the folks at Climate Week will go on to the COP, a much more intense place where serious negotiations are taking place. The COP is also more exclusive—it’s far away, expensive to go, and you must have a badge to get into the places where the real action is. But at Climate Week, everyone is here, in the same place, sharing everything. Which brings us to…
4. Climate Week NYC highlights hope. If we’re being real, right now things feel pretty dire. The emotional impact of living during a time when climate-related disasters are worsening, and most individuals feel disempowered to do anything about climate change is very real. Climate Week NYC, however, brings a big spotlight to the potential solutions and gives a platform for those who are trying to deliver those solutions from across all segments of society and all sectors of the economy. Last year the Wall Street Journal noted that a Climate Week NYC agenda of 400 plus events used the word “solution” 245 times. The word “problem” appeared only six times. The vibe for Climate Week NYC is focused on what people are doing, what’s working, and what could be done with the right resources and commitments.
   
   One of the events we’re really looking forward to this year even focuses on envisioning our climate future—encouraging participants to really commit to using this opportunity, where we need to make so much change, as an opportunity to create a more vibrant, prosperous, and just future for everyone. This shouldn’t be a surprise. New York, after all, is a city that was built on the idea that people come here from all over the world to make their dreams real. We’re going to need the kind of ambition and drive that Climate Week NYC fosters if we’re going to beat climate change.
   
   WWF-US over the last two years has made a big commitment to Climate Week, with its programming at the NEST Climate Campus, and with other events around both Climate Week and the UN General Assembly. We hope you’ll join WWF as we take part in Climate Week NYC 2024. Learn more about what we’re up to on our Climate Week Calendar.