Highlights: 23 September 2026

04.30pm ET

At a McKinsey event on energy security in a shifting world, Ernest J. Moniz, Founder and CEO, EFI Foundation, put his finger on something missing from the debate.

There isn't yet a compelling public narrative explaining why modernizing the electricity grid is a national imperative, he said, or why it should be treated as one of the country's highest priorities. The engineering case is made. The public one isn't.

Ernest J. Moniz, Founder and CEO, EFI Foundation, in conversation with Humayun Tai, Senior Partner, McKinsey, during Climate Week NYC 2026

04.15pm ET

The Subnational Methane Action Coalition hosted a tour of the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant with member governments to see the circular economy in action, with a pilot partnership announced between CLEE and the Government of Maryland to strengthen methane action through new advanced planning and emissions-analysis tools.

Members of the Subnational Methane Action Coalition at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant during Climate Week NYC 2026

03.45pm ET

Over at Penn 1, a video podcast recording took on the question that follows every energy efficiency conversation once the business case is settled: we know it works, so why are some companies racing ahead while others stand still?

Mike Peirce, Executive Director of Systems Change, Climate Group, put it to Anna Celsing Klingberg, Head of Group Sustainability, Alfa Laval, and Dr. Nikitha Radhakrishnan, Head of Sustainability, Siemens Financial Services Americas. The conversation ran through business strategy, finance, resilience and electrification, and what it would take to move efficiency from isolated success stories to standard business practice.

The argument underneath it is that efficiency is turning into a source of competitive advantage rather than a compliance exercise, and that the companies moving fastest already treat it that way.

It'll be published soon on 50 Shades and on our YouTube channel.

Mike Peirce, Executive Director of Systems Change, Climate Group, Anna Celsing Klingberg, Head of Group Sustainability, Alfa Laval, and Dr. Nikitha Radhakrishnan, Head of Sustainability, Siemens Financial Services Americas, recording at Penn 1

03.30pm ET

At Climate Forward, Josh Parker, Head of Sustainability, NVIDIA, used his session to announce a new AI Energy Management Coalition, formed with OpenAI and other technology companies to work on how AI's energy demand is managed.

Josh Parker, Head of Sustainability, NVIDIA, at Climate Forward during Climate Week NYC 2026

02.45pm ET

Governors, ministers and regional leaders from across the Under2 Coalition are in New York City this week, and the focus is delivery: energy, investment, resilience, food systems and public trust. States and regions are where national pledges turn into budgets and results on the ground.

Three sessions worth adding to your week:

• Americas Ministerial 2026: Climate Leadership Across Borders — SMAC and Under2 Coalition | Wednesday, September 23 | Practical methane reduction and wastewater solutions at subnational level
• Mobilizing Investment for Extreme Heat Solutions — Under2 Coalition and Government of Québec | Thursday, September 24 | Cross-border cooperation on shared climate priorities across the Americas
• Mobilizing Investment for Extreme Heat Solutions — Under2 Coalition and Mediterranean Climate Action Partnership | Thursday, September 24 | Scaling investment to protect communities from rising extreme heat

01.30pm ET

An orange tote bag that becomes a self-inflating life jacket in around 15 seconds.

Lifeline launched for Climate Week NYC, prompted by images of flooding on the city's subway. It's built from upcycled materials including a life vest, opens through a central zip so it can be worn over the head, and inflates when the straps are pulled. It is not for sale.

It was made by an independent group of New York artists led by Philip Le Brun, artist and creative director, and Gabriela Mestriner, artist, designer and architect.

"The overarching principle for this project is an essential that shouldn't exist."

The question underneath it is an uncomfortable one: what happens when emergency equipment starts to look like an everyday accessory? Mestriner is clear that the piece isn't offering an answer.

"The project is not about designing a solution to flooding."

Lifeline, a tote bag that converts into a life jacket, created for Climate Week NYC 2026 by Philip Le Brun and Gabriela Mestriner. Photography and image production by Emmett Orgass

11.45am ET

At Where Sustainability Meets Storytelling, hosted by Antenna Group, Cassandra Garber, Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors, made the case that a strategy nobody can repeat isn't a strategy.

"If you want to communicate any strategy, you need to be able to do it in three words."

At GM those words are decarbonize, delight and drive: cutting pollution, keeping customers happy, and pushing the EV transition through more than 12 models. She was joined by Christina Shim, Chief Sustainability Officer, IBM, and Jaycee Pribulsky, Partner and Chief Sustainability Officer, Apollo, with Keith Zakheim, CEO, Antenna Group, moderating.

Cassandra Garber, Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors, speaking at Where Sustainability Meets Storytelling during Climate Week NYC 2026

11.45am ET

Over at Regen House, Holganix used its slot this morning to ask what's actually changing beneath our feet.

Food systems account for around a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, and receive less than 4% of climate finance to deal with it. That gap was the backdrop as Tim Weaver, Chief Strategy Officer, and Bryan Hansel, Chief Commercial Officer, took a fast and funny run at the week's biggest sustainability headlines, with farmers, food companies and sustainability leaders in the room. Underneath the jokes sat the serious question: what will it really take to move agriculture and climate forward?

11.30am ET

Katie White, UK Minister for Climate Transition, took the stage at Climate Forward with Katrin Bennhold of The New York Times, pointing to the Prime Minister's climate remarks at the UN yesterday and to how close the UK now is to being on track to decarbonize its power system by the end of the decade. 

Katie White, UK Minister for Climate Transition, in conversation with Katrin Bennhold, Host of "The World" newsletter at The New York Times, at Climate Forward 

11.10am ET

Clean energy has a new billboard in Chelsea, and it's a wall.

Multidisciplinary artist Ben Johnston has painted a mural on 10th Avenue at 24th Street carrying one message: clean energy now. It's up until Friday, October 2, in support of Brightside, a movement for people who love clean energy.

The thinking behind it is straightforward. Most people support clean energy, but most of them also think they're in a minority for feeling that way. The mural exists to make that majority visible.

If you're in Chelsea this week, go and stand in front of it, take a photo and post it. 

Artist: @ben_johnston

Photo: @shadowrunner

Agency: @atrbute

The Clean Energy Now mural on 10th Avenue at 24th Street, Chelsea, during Climate Week NYC 2026

11.00am ET

At the Nest Campus, Jigar Shah made the case for keeping every voice in the room on data centers, as the pace of expansion is only going to pick up.

The technologies that address the biggest concerns already exist, he said. What's missing is deployment at the scale the problem actually demands.

10.30am ET

Jane Fonda, actor and activist, sat down with Catrin Einhorn of The New York Times at Climate Forward to talk about the power of activism, and about who is carrying it.

Women are among the hardest hit by climate change, she said, particularly across the global south, and they are also the ones leading the response. She put that down to empathy, and to an awareness of being part of nature rather than apart from it.

What this moment needs, she argued, is people willing to think seven generations ahead. Women, she said, can do that.

Jane Fonda, Actor and Activist, in conversation with Catrin Einhorn, Domestic Correspondent at The New York Times, at Climate Forward

10.15am ET

Siemens and the Energy Efficiency Movement wrapped up The Twin Engines of Transition: Efficiency and Electrification, two panels on the gap between what already works and what actually gets built, with Helen Clarkson OBE, CEO, Climate Group, moderating.

The first took energy efficiency out of the future tense. Across industry, proven technologies and operational models are already delivering measurable results, so the session stayed on implementation: what is working now, how it was paid for, what speeds deployment up, and what it takes to scale across industrial systems. The second picked up the harder half of that question, and looked at how proven solutions get the financing to go wide.

The panel on stage for The Twin Engines of Transition: Efficiency and Electrification at Climate Week NYC 2026 with Helen Clarkson OBE, CEO, Climate Group as moderator

09.15am ET

Climate Week NYC isn't all conference rooms. Taste of Climate Week: NYC runs September 20 to 27, with midtown restaurants serving planet-friendly specials across 12 locations. It's led by NYC organizers and Planted Society, with support from Beyond Meat, NYC Food and Climate Group.

Where to eat:

• Plantega
• Franchia Vegan Cafe
• Frida Midtown
• Le Botaniste
• PLNT Burger
• Bareburger

Choosing what's on your plate is one of the most powerful climate actions available to any of us. Find the specials and the map.

07.20am ET

The Hub Live has finished, but Climate Week NYC is far from over.

Well over 1,500 events are running across the city, and if you're joining from home there are plenty of online sessions too. We'll be covering selected events here throughout the day.

Find your own with the events map and the full calendar.

 A few to look out for today:

• Savor the Earth: A Mindful Walk Through Central Park for Climate Week | Wednesday, September 23, 7.45am | A guided sensory walk and small group reflection in Central Park, before the day's panels begin.
• The Twin Engines of Transition: Efficiency and Electrification | Wednesday, September 23, 9.00am | How proven efficiency and electrification solutions can scale faster across industry

• From Ambition to Implementation: Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation | Wednesday, September 23, 9.00am | Why nature-based solutions still aren't making it into government adaptation plans, budgets and investment decisions, and what it would take to change that. 

• Sustainability 4.0 Breakfast - Building the AI-Ready Sustainable Enterprise | Wednesday, September 23, 9.00am |

  An executive breakfast on turning supply chain sustainability commitments into operational reality, with findings from the Carbon Action Report 2026.

• Energy Product Development Workshop & Panel | Wednesday, September 23, 4.00pm |An afternoon for energy and tech founders on product development and commercialization, with a limited number of free one-on-one strategy sessions. 

• A Climate Carol - by Science Tonight! the science comedy talkshow  Wednesday, September 23, 7.00pm | A late-night comedy talk show where scientists and improvisers take on climate past, present and future.