Mayor de Blasio and NYC & Company—New York City’s official destination marketing organization—announced today that they will welcome Climate Week to New York City from September 24-30, 2018. Organized by The Climate Group, an international non-profit organization, Climate Week NYC will gather international leaders from across the public, private and government sectors to showcase and discuss global climate action in New York City, with support from NYC & Company.
“We are honored to again welcome The Climate Group and Climate Week NYC for the 10th year,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Here in New York, we’re taking bold action on climate. Through our ground breaking OneNYC strategy and our ambitious 1.5˚C Plan, we’ve committed our city to hit the highest goals of the Paris climate agreement. We’re divesting from fossil fuels, mandating that our largest buildings cut their emissions, and investing in electric vehicles. Through investments in resiliency and sustainability, we are building a fairer city for all.”
“Climate Week NYC is the largest climate week in the world and as one of the key summits in the international calendar—which runs alongside the United Nations General Assembly—has been driving climate action forward since its launch in 2009,” said Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group. “We are thrilled to be hosting our 10th Climate Week NYC and to appear on the world’s stage, to continue to advance climate action to the top of the global agenda.”
“Our goal is to leverage the City’s significant and growing sustainability efforts to position the destination as ‘the capital city of a responsible world,” said Fred Dixon, President & CEO of NYC & Company. “From our most iconic parks becoming permanently car-free, plans for Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to house one of the City’s largest rooftop farms, and many of our leading hotels embracing the City’s Carbon Challenge, events such as Climate Week NYC are the perfect platform to engage our City and the world to demonstrate their pledge to better protect the planet.”
Approximately 10,000 people from over 40 countries are expected to attend 150 events—including panel discussions, concerts, exhibitions and seminars. An opening ceremony on September 24—featuring key speakers and dignitaries including Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Edmund G Brown, Governor of California, and President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti—is planned for The Times Center in Manhattan.
Along with Climate Week NYC, New York City has recently attracted high-profile, large-scale events including WorldPride in 2019. These monumental events will help fuel record breaking visitation numbers. In 2017, there were a 62.8 million visitors.
"New York City is thrilled to host the 10th annual Climate Week to showcase the climate leadership happening all across the five boroughs," said Daniel Zarrilli, NYC's Senior Director of Climate Policy and Programs and Chief Resilience Officer. "In the absence of federal leadership in Washington, cities all across the country are stepping up their ambition to achieve the Paris Agreement. Here in NYC, we are accelerating our GHG reductions, adapting our city, and divesting from fossil fuels as part of our comprehensive OneNYC strategy. Congratulations to the Climate Group for building an effective and successful platform for climate action over the last decade and we look forward to the next 10 years of partnership."
“From protecting our coastlines, buildings, and infrastructure to making our neighborhoods safer and more vibrant, New York City is dedicated to confronting climate change head-on and protecting our city and its citizens from the associated threats,” said Jainey Bavishi, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency. “Climate Week NYC brings together some of the most brilliant innovators around the world to do just that.”
“Climate change is here and this moment requires decisive, ambitious, and collaborative action,” saidMark Chambers, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “Climate Week NYC is an opportunity to inspire and embolden us all to deliver necessary solutions.”
"As the Ranking Democratic Member on the State Senate Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, I am excited to celebrate Climate Week NYC. This is a great initiative and effective way to engage all stakeholders as we work to protect the environment,” said Senator Kevin Parker.
A New Generation of Sustainable Hotels
New York City’s evolving hotel scene is embracing eco-conscious design and practices. Overall, 19 properties are currently committed to the NYC Carbon Challenge. 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge opened in 2017 as part of the eco-friendly 1 Hotels brand. The Grand Hyatt New York and The Peninsula New York have vowed to shrink their carbon footprints through upgrades like high-efficiency boilers and LED lighting. The Pierre participates in EarthCheck, a program which measures the property’s impact on the environment, and boutique Crosby Street Hotel was awarded the City’s first LEED Gold Certified building.
Park Preservation and Honoring Horticulture
As of June 2018, Central Park—the world’s most iconic greenspace, which welcomes more than 42 million visitors yearly—joined Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in becoming entirely car-free. Suspended above the City streets, The High Line—an abandoned elevated rail line transformed into a horticultural oasis—opened its first section in 2009 as a habitat for birds, insects and humans seeking respite. At Battery Park City, horticulturists manage the neighborhood’s park without pesticides and engage in large-scale composting.
This summer, New York City welcomed new green spaces at Hunter’s Point South in Long Island City, Domino Park in Williamsburg, and Pier 3 at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Green Roofs and Urban Farms
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is currently home to a 6.75-acre green roof, completed in 2014, which attracts wildlife, provides insulation that cuts the building’s energy use by 26 percent, and absorbs storm water. The Javits Center’s latest initiative is to cultivate a nearly 1 acre rooftop farm on the roof of the expansion, with the intention to grow produce to serve delegates.
Atop Brooklyn’s Barclays Center—famed for its sporting events and concerts—is a 3-acre green roof with another sloping over its subway entrance. Brooklyn Grange keeps bees in over 30 naturally-managed, rooftop hives citywide and operates the world’s two largest rooftop soil farms in Long Island City, Queens and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
New to the Bronx, The New York Botanical Garden introduced Edible Academy this spring. The three-acre campus features a green roof, demonstration kitchen, technology lab, teaching greenhouse, solar pavilion, vegetable gardens, teaching and performance spaces and more.
Established in 2012 to help feed, inspire, and educate the local community, Snug Harbor’s 2.5-acre Heritage Farm on Staten Island produces fresh fruits and vegetables in an environmentally sustainable manner. In 2017 Heritage Farm staff worked with over 100 volunteers and educated over 2,280 children on sustainable farming, food sources, and plant biology.
Roosevelt and Governor’s Island
Roosevelt Island is home to Cornell Tech’s in-progress campus, featuring cutting-edge green buildings the “net-zero” Bloomberg Center and “The House”, the world’s largest LEED-Platinum passive house structure. On Governors Island, eco highlights include an urban farm with resident goats, a composting center and the Billion Oyster Project, an ecosystem restoration and education initiative which has already planted 25 million oysters of a 2035 goal of one billion oysters, to create waterway filtration in New York Harbor.
City’s Top Attractions LEED The Way
The City’s LEED buildings are models of sustainable urban architecture. In 2009, the Empire State Building underwent a green-focused retrofit of the iconic 1931 skyscraper while One World Trade Center was constructed as one of the world’s tallest LEED-certified buildings. At Hudson Yards—the largest private real estate development in the history of the US—14 acres of gardens and public spaces, rainwater-collection infrastructure to reuse 10 million gallons per year and an on-site hyper-efficient power plant are leading green features. Of note, the first completed building in the emerging neighborhood, 10 Hudson Yards, is LEED Platinum certified.
Brooklyn’s Children’s Museum earned a Silver LEED certification after it was built in 2008 for solar-generated electric power, recycled rubber flooring and geothermal heating and cooling, while the venue also teaches children about ecology through hands-on exhibits. The Whitney Museum of American Art is also LEED Gold certified for its energy-saving measures, recycled materials used in construction, and green roof which is home to two beehives.
Shining examples of the NYC theater industry’s commitment to sustainability include the creation of The Broadway Green Alliance.
