Stockholm (NordSIP) – “It’s Time.” That is the chosen theme for the 2024 iteration of New York Climate Week, the annual event organised by international non-profit the Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Climate Week NYC 2024 runs from 22 to 29 September and in accordance with the event’s theme will seek to raise the overall sense of urgency in the face of an accelerating climate crisis. The hosts of the 29th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP29) have chosen to follow Climate Week NYC with their own similar event. Baku Climate Action Week (BCAW) will take place from 30 September to 4 October, under the strapline of “Engage/Innovate/Accelerate.” What can delegates expect from these two events in the run-up to October’s biodiversity-focused COP16 and November’s COP29?
Climate Week NYC 2024 will consist of more than 600 events and activities across the City of New York. The opening session on 22 September features senior representatives from governments, civil society, and business, such as Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jessica Anderen, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, and Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organisation. The opening session and the series of speeches and panel discussions know as the Hub Live will be available for virtual attendance via livestream. Registration is free and the sessions will be available to view on-demand after the conference on the Climate Week NYC website.
The Hub Live sessions have been organised according to the following four themes:
The New Industrial Revolution: This theme will explore all aspects of the low-carbon transition, as well as the advent of artificial intelligence and its impact on corporate energy use, employment, and society.
The Energy and Transport Transition: These two sectors are among the highest global emitters of greenhouse gases. The conference will examine ways to create new, integrated smart net-zero transport and energy infrastructure and systems.
Nature, Food Systems and Health: The complex relationship between food systems and land use with the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change will be discussed with the aim of establishing healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable alternative practices.
Leadership and Green Growth: This stream will focus on climate finance, international standard setting, and regulation to support the low-carbon transition.
Climate Week NYC 2024 will also host closed-door and invitation-only roundtables and workshops under the banner of the Executive Series. The aim of these is to gather senior policymakers, civil society representatives, and business leaders under Chatham House rules with a view to catalysing new relationships and constructive climate action.
Oil lobby and human rights concerns in Baku
Azerbaijan’s Baku Climate Action Week has the stated aim of gathering key stakeholders from policy, private sector, finance, trade and investment, science & academia, cities and regions, arts and culture, civil society, and media. The programme has more of a local flavour, with the organisers expressing their desire to involve the whole of Azerbaijani society in the climate discussion.
While the declarations on inclusivity from the BCAW committee are laudable, there remain grave concerns regarding human rights and freedom of speech ahead of COP29. On 11 September 2024 the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released an open letter co-signed by 25 international and local civil society organisations calling on the Azerbaijani government to release over a dozen jailed journalists and reform the country’s deeply restrictive media laws.
Moreover, while the Climate Week NYC speaker roster includes representatives from various corporate sectors including consumer retail, services, and construction, the Baku event features a significant presence from the local and international fossil fuel sector. The BCAW speaker roster includes senior executives from the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), BP, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Petronas, and Texan oil field services company Baker Hughes. Also featured are fossil industry associations including the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), and the International Gas Union (IGU). It remains to be seen to what extent the level of fossil industry participation and freedom of speech limitations will hinder progress at BCAW and COP29.
