That was my initial reaction a few months ago when someone asked if I was planning to attend Climate Week NYC. Since its inception in 2009, Climate Week has never really drawn me in. Even when I lived in New York and could have easily hopped on a subway to attend events, it always seemed like a greenwashing opportunity for large corporations. But this year, something is different.

This year’s theme, “It’s Time,” resonated with me, particularly because the organizers finally recognized health’s importance in climate action. HEFN has long been a leader in programming around the intersection of climate, health, and equity, and it’s exciting to see this crucial focus reflected in Climate Week’s agenda.

I attended the People’s Climate March back in 2014 alongside many in the HEFN community, including current member Arturo Garcia-Costa of the New York Community Trust and my beloved wife, Arlene Rodriguez, a former HEFN steering committee member. While I didn’t attend official Climate Week events that year, I was deeply inspired by the march and its collective power. This year, I’m looking forward to reconnecting with colleagues and engaging in robust conversations around the petrochemical, climate, and health nexus, climate justice, and the need to detoxify and decarbonize our economy.

Through the creation of our Climate Health and Equity Toolkit and hosting a partnership with eight other funder affinity groups, HEFN has been at the forefront of accelerating investments in solutions that address the large, complex, and interconnected landscape of climate and health. I’m eager to see how this year’s Climate Week can help drive more effective and equitable solutions in these areas.

There’s so much happening this year that I won’t be able to attend everything. Be sure to check out our blog for a list of events that might interest the HEFN community. If I’ve missed anything or you’re planning to attend Climate Week, please let me know—I’d love to hear from you!

I hope to see you at Climate Week. Also, mark your calendars for HEFN’s Annual Meeting and 25th Anniversary celebration in Durham, NC, from October 28 to 30.

Climate Week Event Recommendations:

Sep 20: Green Leadership Trust 10-Year Anniversary Gala – a celebration of GLT’s decade-long commitment to advancing Global Majority leadership on environmental Boards.

Sep 21: 24 The Planet – I will not be walking in this due to time conflicts, but I’m a huge fan of walking. Walking for 24 hours straight with short breaks, punctuated by mini-events, breathwork sessions, guided meditation, silent disco, dogs, marching band, and a DJ booth, is GOALS!

Sep 22-23: Climate Justice Summit: People Deliver at The Forum at Columbia University – This summit aims to catalyze global collaboration to drive progress on climate justice and includes themes around Climate Justice Funding with the Donors of Color Network’s Climate Funders Justice Pledge and the HBCU Green Fund.

Sep 22: Street Work Earth – free street arts & climate action festival created by artists committed to fostering joyful, community-led action in public spaces. Because of joy and creating art in the community for climate justice!

Sunday, Sep 22: “Energies” – More ART about a hidden history of one of the first sweat equity co-ops who built a landmark wind turbine on the roof of their torched building during the 1973 oil crisis.

Sep 23: Connecting Climate Change and Health: Closing the Action Gap: long-time HEFN partner Kaiser Permanente leads a panel of experts at the front line of climate emergencies, sharing insights for concrete actions for health systems, communities, policymakers, and corporations.

Sep 23: Heatwaves and Health: Community-based Health Resilience in a Warming World—Heat is now the number one weather-related killer in the U.S., and the need for innovative, long-term solutions has never been more urgent, particularly in already vulnerable communities.

Sep 23: Climate of Emotions – Led by the Wangari Maathai Foundation – lessons from UNICEF-USA’s report from EcoAnxious to EcoOptimist on how emotions can help move people for climate action and why self-care is a radical act. Rooted in the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, experts will lay out an agenda for the climate of emotions.

Sep 23: Environmental Justice & Climate Tech – HEFN 2023 Annual Meeting speaker Roishetta Ozane of the Vessel Project joins a panel to discuss project roll-out from technologies like liquified natural gas (LNG), carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), carbon dioxide removal (CDR), solar, wind, and hydrogen, with an environmental justice lens to understand how to address various projects that may be proposed in our communities to help mitigate further burden on frontline communities.

Sep 23: Backing Indigenous leaders: where Ending the Climate Crisis and Decolonization Meet – Listen to exchanges with Indigenous leaders about connecting with the Land and Each other, Meeting Basic Human Needs, and learning how to back Indigenous leadership.

Sep 23: Better Worlds Ahead: Realizing Our Brighter Climate Futures – Join visionaries Stacey Abrams (Rewiring America) and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (Urban Ocean Lab) for an in-depth conversation about imagining better futures, finding hope and motivation for continued action, and where climate solutions are already taking root. Including an interactive visioning exercise to help collectively articulate the climate futures we want.

Sep 25: Climate and Health Equity in Action—Join national and local leaders at Sun River Health’s Bedford Avenue clinic for a breakfast reception to learn about resources and climate actions that address disproportionate climate impacts. Climate solutions that center the needs of vulnerable communities can range from solar resilience hubs to a more sustainable built environment to community engagement and empowerment that drive local policy.

Plastics: A Forum on Research & Advocacy is a two-day educational opportunity Abbott Plastics co-sponsored with several state Attorneys General and the Attorney General Alliance at Yale University.

Sep 27: Health Systems Implementing Climate Action—This event will convene business and health sector leaders to present the latest research and practice findings on low-carbon, resilient healthcare delivery and explore building sustainable systems through actionable and scalable solutions.

Addressing the Human and Environmental Costs of Mining for EVs

High-Level Summit on The Future of the Fossil Economy: The Petrochemicals, Climate & Health Nexus

Agricultural chemicals

FCOG Dinner

Equity Fund Breakfast

Climate Crossroads – Prioritizing Human Security

Holding Back the Tide – documentary screening – Who doesn’t love a good against the odds comeback story? Added bonus: told in an impressionistic style, the trailer features fabulous femmes emerging from an oyster shell in NYC street fashion swimwear

6th International Rights of Nature Tribunal, 1st session: The End of the Fossil Fuel Era – Featuring case presentation, expert panels, and deliberation sessions open to the public on:

•  False solutions (carbon markets, geoengineering, net zero), Fossil fuel infrastructure expansion and impacts, and Sacrifice Zones.
• Solutions and voices of land defenders on the Rights of Nature (Yasuní, Keystone XL Pipeline, Just Transition)

Sep 22-29: Sustaining All Life events focused on removing emotional barriers to effectively addressing the climate emergency