From September 21 – September 28, Climate Group, in collaboration with the United Nations General Assembly, hosted its annual Climate Week NYC 2025. Over the course of the week, grassroots organizations, international leaders, and tens of thousands of community members gathered in over 1000 panels and events that aimed to drive real-world climate action.
This year’s theme, “Power On”, aimed to highlight climate progress in clean energy, climate finance, technology, green jobs, and climate justice. In her speech at the Opening Ceremony, CEO of Climate Group Helen Clarkson described the “Power On” theme as a brave yet necessary choice that acted as “a call to action, to keep going despite the many headwinds.” Especially at a time when environmental policy, regulations, research, and budgets have faced threats, Climate Week aimed to empower leaders and citizens to continue to protect our planet.
On the first day of the event, the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit brought together the most prominent leaders in climate action globally to discuss how climate change impacts economic growth. Notable attendees included Gina McCarthy, Former White House National Climate Advisor and 13th U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator; Mindy Lubber, CEO and President, Ceres; and Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Founding Director Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice.
Climate Week brought together both existing and new leaders from across the world who specialized in the fields of business, technology, academia, and politics. These prominent leaders worked together to build the “means, the scale and the ideas to take bold action”, according to the Climate Group’s Climate Week NYC 2025 Website. In addition to world leaders, Climate Group also brought several activist organizations together. The organizations present included New York Climate Exchange, Ceres, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and many more.
Climate Week 2025 centered the focus of discussion on how climate action should be integrated into economies and government and how frontline communities are affected by global warming. At one event, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) aimed to “confront the systematic roots of environmental destruction”, according to their website. As GARN concluded, “[We] need to make sure that Mother Earth is not just at the table, but at the heart of the conversation.”
Climate Week NYC 2025 was the largest event of its kind, uniting tens of thousands of people, prominent world leaders, and leading organizations. Through its “Power On” theme, the Climate Group and the United Nations General Assembly celebrated climate progress and sought innovative ways to continue protecting our planet.
Sources
https://www.theclimategroup.org/our-work/events/climate-week-nyc-2025
