With just five weeks to go until Climate Week NYC kicks off and, in the run up to the event, this week we’re talking finance. And the importance of local jobs and local investment, as that’s something people can really see and believe.
Last year the strapline for Climate Week NYC was Getting It Done, and we brought together over 500 events, each one showcasing examples of what it means to take meaningful action. This year we’re taking one step further: We Can. We Will.
It can sometimes feel like there's not much to be hopeful about when we see the dire climate predictions and continual challenges to meet our ambitions. But there are reasons to be resilient, and even hopeful. “We Can. We Will” will be our mantra across the week in September, highlighting that it’s the people participating in Climate Week NYC, thousands of leaders from business, government and activism, who not only have the power to create the change, but also have the will to make it happen.
Critical part
Finance, whether it’s through government support or private sector investment, has always been a critical part of the story. This year’s Climate Week NYC will bring home how it’s the big driver of reaching the scale of change required.
There's hardly a better example of finance powering change than President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, and the impacts of it are already being seen across the United States. Climate Week NYC will explore in further detail just how this money is being used to build sustainable infrastructure and create green jobs, so we can accelerate this progress in the US, and also share the learnings with a global audience.
Another area that we’ll be exploring is how different groups need to come together and collaborate more meaningfully to turn investment into action. Having the money is important, but it’s only the start. The scale of change is vast, and the projects and initiatives breaking ground are huge in their scale and scope. We need all hands on deck. That's why we are bringing together not only business and government leaders, but also local communities, experts, regulatory bodies such as permitting, and the wider climate sector – because all of these groups are integral to getting a project off the ground.
Dismantle roadblocks
Climate Group, working with all these groups throughout the year and around the world, has seen first-hand how communications between different entities can cause roadblocks. Local opposition, misunderstood scope, bureaucracy and competing priorities can make these efforts take years longer than they need to. Such delays are simply not an option if we want to reach our 2030 and 2050 goals. At Climate Week NYC, we will confront head-on how we can dismantle these roadblocks – and we’ll be doing it with the people who have the will, the ability, and the means to make it happen.
There’s another element to the finance story that is central to our conversations this year. Climate Finance, both on a domestic and international scale, can sometimes feel so vast and daunting it's hard to feel that it is real. But the recent Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the US have started to link dollar signs with signs of growth on the ground. Factories, infrastructure, and jobs, these are things that people can see and connect with, and they’re an important part of the climate story. The politicization of climate on social media, and indeed in the media, can sometimes feel like discussions in an endless echo chamber. But local jobs and local investment, that’s something people can really see and believe.
Bricks and mortar
Climate Week NYC has had finance as one of its ten official themes for four years now, and those conversations have been vital in pushing forward the investment we have seen around the world in different sectors. This year, more than ever before, we will explore the bricks and mortar reality of what finance can achieve, the change that it can make, and what we need to do to go even faster.
Climate Week NYC starts on Sunday, September 17 with the Opening Ceremony. On Monday and Tuesday, September 18-19, Climate Group hosts The Hub Live, Climate Week NYC’s interactive program for innovative solutions, technologies and ideas that drive forward climate action now.