‘Burning Man for the climate geeks’: Business, world leaders gather for NYC Climate Week

Adjacent to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, there is another international gathering: Climate Week. Now in its 25th year, the event runs from Sept. 22 - Sept. 29.

Described as a “Burning Man for the climate geeks” and a “Davos-like exchange,” Climate Week has been criticized in the past for generating more hot air than climate action. Immediately preceding this year’s convention, protesters gathered in New York to demand an end to fossil fuel use and to press the state’s Gov. Kathy Hochul to take legislative action.

Even so, the event’s concurrence with UNGA means Climate Week is seen as a preview for the United Nations’ COP conferences, a researcher in energy and environment at the Council of Foreign Relations noted, with the next meeting, COP29, taking place in November in Azerbaijan. “The same questions gnawing at the COP process also loom over Climate Week,” she added: “How much do these mass convenings truly accomplish?”