Viviane Faver
Everyone who participates in New York Climate Week, held from September 17th to September 20th, knows that the world is nowhere near where we need to be to address the threats to our planet. However, with this shared understanding of the situation comes a risk: the lack of sufficient action is becoming normal.
With the world on track to break the record for the hottest year in history, world leaders, business executives, celebrities, and activists converged on midtown Manhattan for Climate Week and the UN Climate Action Summit, once again focusing the world’s attention on the climate crisis. The annual climate meeting coincides with the start of the United Nations General Assembly, bringing together heads of state and senior government officials with private sector leaders to address climate change in a year marked by a record number of billions of dollars in disasters, including eight severe floods.
The meeting was held ten weeks before the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates and is one of the last high-level meetings aimed at encouraging countries to present new climate actions and plans to transition away from fossil fuels after the G7, G20, and the BRIC countries (Brazil, China, South Africa, India, and Russia) failed to convince leaders to agree to the phase-out of fossil fuels.
During the opening ceremony of New York Climate Week, Governor Kathy Hochul declared that New York State strives to achieve national climate and clean energy goals. “New York is advancing one of the nation’s most ambitious plans to reduce harmful emissions that affect our climate and disproportionately impact our communities,” Hochul said. “Our steadfast commitment and transformative investments in clean and renewable energy projects are helping to ensure that New York remains at the forefront of climate action, with a focus on environmental justice, to achieve a cleaner, greener, and healthier environment for all New Yorkers.” Severe storms and flooding, extreme heat and wildfires, drought, and air pollution have threatened the health and quality of life of New Yorkers. State officials said that our infrastructure continues to be threatened by climate-related hazards.
In 2019, New York State enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), which requires a reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050, putting the state on a path to carbon neutrality. The New York State Climate Action Council, created pursuant to the Climate Act, finalized a Scoping Plan last December to provide a roadmap for the state to reduce its emissions.
New York State is putting environmental justice front and center with a commitment to provide disadvantaged communities with 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the overall benefits of investments in clean energy and energy efficiency. The state’s Climate Justice Working Group, comprised of representatives from environmental justice communities statewide, finalized the criteria identifying disadvantaged communities across the state last March. The Climate Act also establishes the nation’s most aggressive clean energy agenda, requiring 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040.
The nearly 40-member Alliance of Small Island States used Climate Week as a platform to call on the leaders of developed countries to make more substantial moves to end the use of fossil fuels and to support the global ramp-up of renewable energy such as wind, geothermal, and solar power. Climate Week has become a focal point for climate protestors eager to call out what they see as government inaction and industry greenwashing—corporations advertising environmentally-friendly actions while continuing to pollute—amid glossy events and high-level speeches. As many as 75,000 activists marched through midtown Manhattan on Sunday, September 17th, calling for an end to fossil fuels, while hundreds of protestors planned disruptive action near Wall Street on Monday to demand an end to fossil fuel financing.
“We have had enough false promises, greenwashing, and half-measures. Countries must deliver by coming to the Summit with clear plans to immediately end oil and gas expansion and policies for a fast and fair phase-out of all fossil fuels,” said Romain Ioualalen, global diplomacy manager at Oil Change International, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on phasing out fossil fuel production.
Meanwhile, around 2,600 people have registered for in-person attendance at Climate Week events, featuring over 200 speakers from the private sector, governments, and non-governmental organizations at several hotel ballrooms and other venues across Manhattan.
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