{"id":44873,"date":"2021-09-24T15:24:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T14:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=44873"},"modified":"2021-09-24T17:23:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T16:23:26","slug":"climate-week-nyc-became-fixture-political-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2021\/09\/24\/climate-week-nyc-became-fixture-political-calendar\/","title":{"rendered":"How Climate Week NYC became a fixture on the political calendar"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the first Climate Week NYC in 2009, a bunch of pranksters calling themselves the Yes Men distributed fake copies<\/a> of the New York Post with the front page headline “We’re screwed”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Denmark’s climate minister Connie Hedegaard put it more politely at the official launch, saying: “Remember, we cannot press the undo button if the climate gets out of hand.”<\/p>\n

She was trying to rev up ambition to land an international climate deal at a December summit in Copenhagen. That year, the stars did not align – as has been well documented. But the model of bringing together movers and shakers from business, politics and civil society on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to mobilise climate action stuck.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that was less clear in the early days of the climate negotiations, the 1997 Kyoto talks, for example, but became excruciatingly clear in Copenhagen, is that the major political disagreements need to be ironed out prior to the major conferences,\u201d says Kalee Kreider, a public affairs consultant and senior advisor to the UN Foundation. “The extent to which Climate Week can help to educate those convenings is critical.”<\/p>\n

This year, even as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, the thirteenth Climate Week NYC involves no fewer than 535 events, in person and online. It spans the same spectrum as ever from artistic interpretations of the climate crisis to coalition-building at the highest level of politics, with a multiplying array of private sector and civil society initiatives in between.<\/p>\n

The timing is key. Climate Week NYC lands roughly two months before the annual UN climate negotiations and coincides with UNGA, where world leaders converge on New York City. It allows organisers the Climate Group to attract high profile political<\/a> and business<\/a> leaders like New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden<\/a>, Apple CEO Tim Cook<\/a>\u00a0and Paris Agreement architect Christiana Figueres<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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