Tens of thousands of people from across the world will gather in New York City this month for Climate Week NYC, the largest annual climate event of its kind, with hundreds from the Yale community again contributing energy, ideas, and expertise to conversations and activities taking place across the city.
Scholars, students, and thought leaders from across Yale will engage with partners from the region, the nation, and the world for various events, including a two-day summit at the Yale Club of New York City (Sept. 24-25) hosted by Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS), the university's campuswide initiative uniting leaders and innovators across disciplines to catalyze solutions to the greatest threats facing people and planet.
The Yale Club program (Yale @ Climate Week NYC) will feature more than 20 sessions convening members of the Yale community and a host of partners focused on bringing solutions to scale for positive impact. The program - including discussions on how artificial intelligence technologies might aid the climate fight, strategies to "decarbonize" existing buildings, and the power of the arts and storytelling in motivating human behavior - will demonstrate how Yale's faculty, staff, and students are engaging with partners to translate knowledge into action.
The two-day Yale Club program will also include the unveiling of a new "Resilient Cities Network and Sustainable Markets Initiative Report" and faculty-led discussions on numerous topics, such as forging impactful climate careers and shifting global trade policies and their effect on the climate landscape. (View the full agenda.)
Yale President Maurie McInnis and Provost Scott Strobel will deliver opening remarks, followed by a Yale School of the Environment-led panel with current and former members of the U.S. Congress. The panel will discuss rebuilding bipartisanship in the nation's environmental movement.
Among Climate Week's other highlights is the Sept. 23 presentation of the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth Award, the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) flagship initiative for young environmentalists (ages 18-30). This award is sponsored by Chris Kemper, UNEP's advocate for partnerships, founder of cleantech company Palmetto, and co-founder of Planet A, a new YouTube channel to drive environmental awareness into action. In a private session, Yale experts will coach and train the three Young Champions of the Earth winners - chosen from more than 1,200 applicants worldwide - as they advance innovative solutions for addressing the threats of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. The Yale experts represent Yale Planetary Solutions, Tsai CITY for Innovative Thinking at Yale, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, and Yale School of the Environment.
Throughout the week, members of the Yale community will also participate in:
- an event hosted by the New Haven-based incubator ClimateHaven that will highlight opportunities in the water technology sector (Sept. 22);
- three separate events hosted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, including a discussion of how museums can better engage with their audiences about climate change (Sept. 22); an exploration of how climate communication research and behavior insights are promoting "action-driving" strategies (Sept. 22); and a discussion of climate education and communication at the American Museum of Natural History (Sept. 26). (Registration is separate for each event.);
- a Climate Capital Summit, hosted in partnership with the venture capital firm Equal Ventures, which will convene climate decision-makers, including leaders across energy, investing, policy, innovation, and higher education. (Sept. 24); and
- a day-long event co-hosted by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health and the New York Academy of Medicine that will explore the latest research on what is needed to achieve a more sustainable health care system. The event, "Health Systems Implementing Climate Action," will be held at the academy's conference center at 1216 Fifth Avenue (Sept. 25).
"Yale's presence during Climate Week, from the formal gathering at the Yale Club to the numerous partner-driven events taking place across the city, illustrates the many ways that our faculty, students, alumni, and staff are engaged with partners through innovation and implementation to advance planetary solutions worldwide," said McInnis.
Climate Week NYC, which is coordinated by the nonprofit Climate Group in partnership with the UN General Assembly, attracts leaders in business, political change-makers, scientists, and representatives from civil society for a series of events and programs that help shape the global response to the threat of climate change.
Yale @ Climate Week NYC is coordinated by Yale Planetary Solutions. Since 2020, YPS has fostered collaborations across the university community, and awarded more than $7 million in grants to 89 innovative projects that are transforming research and knowledge with positive effects locally and globally.
For YPS, Climate Week is part of a broader series of interconnected initiatives and events this fall designed to bring "all that Yale is and all that Yale does" to bear on confronting planetary challenges, said Julie Zimmerman, Yale's vice provost for planetary solutions, who holds joint appointments in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science and Yale School of the Environment.
Other YPS-related activities this semester include the opening of Yale's Living Village, a state-of-the-art residential complex at Yale Divinity School designed to give back more to the natural world than it takes; a forthcoming five-year report celebrating university-wide efforts to address planetary challenges; a strategic visioning process including a panel with university, city, and state leaders that will help guide future sustainability goals; and participation by members of the Yale community at the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), to be held in Belém, Pará, Brazil, in November.
"All of these efforts highlight the breadth and depth of the Yale community's work to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and other planetary challenges," said Zimmerman. "And once again, Climate Week NYC offers a host of opportunities for the Yale community to engage with partners from across New Haven, the nation, and the world in developing, enabling, and implementing scalable and transformative solutions."
"We have a responsibility to secure a better future for our planet and for humanity," said Yale Provost Scott Strobel. "In efforts to contribute real and lasting change, Yale is leveraging its ability to convene leaders, policymakers, and innovators from across disciplines to address today's most pressing planetary challenges.
"We look forward to Climate Week as an opportunity to explore bold ideas, deepen collaborations and partnerships, and advance tangible solutions that benefit lives and communities around the world."
