It’s Time: Climate Week Begins September 22

By Peter Aronson

It’s Time is the theme of Climate Week NYC 2024. This name could not be more timely.

2024 appears poised to be the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023, and we experience weekly, if not daily, reminders how global warming impacts us, from hurricane Francine and the wildfires out west to the drumbeat of news about droughts, floods, glacial melt and oceans rising and warming.

So yes, It’s Time. 

This year’s Climate Week NYC, from September 22-29, is advertised as “the largest annual climate event of its kind,” with more than 600 events citywide. It brings together government and business leaders with environmentalists to discuss and debate such issues as Envisioning 2035: Mobility Growth and Sustainability, which focuses on carbon-reducing trends and innovation in the transportation sector; and Pillars of the Green Transition, focusing on how industries will strive to attain net-zero emissions.

“We’re in the age of urgency. Investment in clean energy and net zero technologies is higher than ever, but 2024 started out warmer than ever recorded …” The Climate Week NYC website states. “People and companies are waking up to the fact that we need to act, fast, as they see the effects of climate change all around them.”     

The annual event, begun in 2009 by the Climate Group, an international nonprofit, is run every September in unison with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and with New York City. International leaders often appear at Climate Week events and this year participants include Prime Minister Philip E. Davis of the Bahamas and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Many of the key events, including the opening series of speeches and talks on September 22 and the events listed below, will be live streamed and can be attended virtually. To sign up, go to the Climate Week website.

On September 23 and 24, the Climate Group will host The Hub Live, a series of events that focus on specific areas within our climate dilemma. These events include How to Achieve Rapid and Responsible Offshore Wind Development, The Future of the Amazon, Is Methane Mitigation Finally on the Verge of a Major Breakthrough?, and Financing the Energy Transition Amid New Regulatory Uncertainty. 

NYLCV, ACE New York, and energyRe will join with policymakers, businesses, renewable energy industry representatives, and community partners to celebrate environmental progress in New York. 

“What better way to mark Climate Week than to celebrate renewable energy and all the progress we’ve made in New York State, from offshore wind and solar power, to hydro and geothermal,” said NYLCV President Julie Tighe. “Fighting climate change is an all-hands-on-deck effort and we look forward to joining with ACENY, energyRe, and so many incredible partners that are helping to make our clean energy future a reality.” 

A good guide for the events can be found at alignedincentives.com. 

Peter Aronson, a volunteer writer at the New York League of Conservation Voters since September 2022, is a former journalist and retired attorney. He is the author of Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma: The United States of Anthropocene, a novel for middle-grade readers about kids fighting global warming. Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, wrote: “A scathing work and an essential blueprint for youth battling climate change.” To read more about Peter, visit his website www.peteraronsonbooks.com or to purchase his book, click here.