What is Climate Week?
5 minute read
Described by the New York Times as the “Burning Man for climate geeks,” Climate Week has become a sprawling, creative, and at times chaotic gathering for climate action: from drag shows to oyster reef restorations, alongside workshops on carbon-free steel, circular fashion, and climate finance.
New York has always played host to new collisions. The city where Broadway sits beside Wall Street, and where movements spill into the streets. Each September, Climate Week taps into that same restless energy alongside the Annual United Nations General Assembly.
While optics may draw businesses through the door, the gathering is increasingly judged by what it delivers. And in 2025, delivery is harder to measure: a year marked by U.S. retreat, stalled industrial policy, rising energy demands from AI, and the weight of burnout across the movement. Climate Week arrives as a stage where creativity, conflict, and determination will all collide – just as they always have in New York.
What is Climate Week?
Climate Week was born in 2009, at a hinge moment for global climate politics and the economy. The world was gearing up for the UN’s much-hyped COP15 summit in Copenhagen, businesses were experimenting with the language of sustainability, and the 2008 financial crash had sparked calls to link climate action with economic recovery.
2006–2007: The Stern Review and IPCC reports reframed climate change as an urgent economic and human risk.
2008: The financial crash fuelled calls for “green growth” as part of the recovery.
2009: Climate Week NYC launched, with early backing from companies like Swiss Re and BT, alongside the UN and New York City.
Its aim: to bring together business, government, and civil society in the run-up to Copenhagen.
What started as a handful of panels at the Morgan Library has since exploded into a global fixture with over 900 different events.
It’s more like Fashion Week: “the place where people in the industry you need to work with are in the same place.”
Climate Week vs. COP
COP has all eyes on it each year, with hopeful pressure. Unlike COP, with promising expectations hinging on it, which revolves around government negotiation, Climate Week has always been about an ecosystem of relationships.
As Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, told NYT it’s more like Fashion Week: “the place where people in the industry you need to work with are in the same place.”
Compared to COP29’s last attendance of around 56,000 people, engagement and participation is low because of its concentration on formal negotiations and traditions.
With around 100,000 participants from over 160 countries, Climate Week’s decentralised nature allows for broader participation, including local communities and smaller organisations. COP is where countries set the bare minimum. Climate week is where players take their work to the next level.
“Companies have doubled down on efforts to save money and invest in sustainability—whether by cutting energy bills or
financing renewable projects.”
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Are companies using Climate Week to spur change?
It’s been said that businesses are now the ones turning ambition into action, motivated as much by profit as by principle. Reflecting on London Climate Action Week this year, Justin Worland observed that companies “have doubled down on efforts to save money and invest in sustainability – whether by cutting energy bills or financing renewable projects.”
In 2024 alone, 84% of companies maintained or accelerated their climate commitments, driven by AI-driven energy needs, new regulations, and global competitiveness.
Clarkson reflected on the outcomes from Climate Week that demonstrate impact:
- California sued major fossil fuel companies
- Volvo committed to end diesel production
- L’Oréal launched a €15 million fund to support high-risk communities.
What to expect at Climate Week NYC 2025
More Basics
“We finished conversations about ‘should’ we act years ago, now we’re outlining ‘how’,” says Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, speaking to the anticipation for this year’s gathering.
This year, the week will centre on the theme ‘Power On’ to address pressing topics: decarbonising heavy industries, sourcing 100% carbon-free electricity, equitable climate finance, and the economics of a warming world. But first there will be some key challenges to make sense of this year:
How to stay focused on action, even without U.S. federal leadership: Despite the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and enacting significant deregulations in early 2025, global momentum for climate action continues to build. “The climate work goes on” Worland notes, “but the U.S. is no longer at the centre of the universe.”
How to decarbonise heavy industry despite policy uncertainty: Cement and steel are responsible for nearly 15% of global carbon emissions. Efforts to decarbonise these sectors face significant hurdles. The Trump administration recently cancelled two major $500 million federal grants intended to promote low-carbon cement production.
How to deploy AI during a green transition: Data centres already account for a sizable chunk of the world’s electricity (about 1.5 percent globally) and are on a trajectory to double that demand by 2030. Is AI helping or hurting the green transition? will be a question asked in many corners of Climate Week.
How to find wonder amid the weight of climate work: Burnout hits sustainability professionals and activists more and more as they forge ahead despite rollbacks and mounting climate impacts. This year’s gathering has elevated the range of art, film, and storytelling events couched as essential tools rather than distractions. The city will host a range of film festivals and immersive galleries as gatherings for conversation but also renewal and awe.
Further reading
Why Climate Week NYC matters this year more than ever
– Helen Clarkson for Reuters
The World Is Doubling Down on Climate Business—With Or Without the U.S. – TIME
