Zack King, Director at firstlight took himself over the pond last week to attend New York Climate Week. We asked him to share his key takeaways from the event…
Last week I travelled to New York for Climate Week and the UN General Assembly. Standing amongst a formidable mix of government decision makers, world-leading academics and passionate non-profits, I was struck by the quality of the conversations taking place – particularly on the fringes.
I spent much of my time in meetings with various NGOs, government
actors and funding partners. Taking all into account, here are five things that I took away from the week.
Progress – but far too slow
The mood in the room was that of cautious optimism, progress yes, but progress that’s coming far too slowly. I have to say the mood was picked up somewhat by the US passing the Inflation Reduction Act recently – which will pour billions into fighting climate change. I dread to think what it would have been like if that hadn’t happened. On the other hand, there was clear concern in every room that Russia’s war in Ukraine is being used as an excuse by some to slip back on their climate commitments. It certainly feels like a critical time, precarious at best.
Leadership lacking
Almost everyone I met with felt that there simply isn’t enough leadership coming from any of the traditional superpowers. Even with the Inflation Reduction Act the US just isn’t doing enough to lead from the front and their position remains as perilous as the polling in the country. With midterms around the corner and climate such apolarising issue it remains to be seen if the Biden administration can show the type of leadership so desperately needed.
The elephant in the room
One of the things I barely heard talked about but almost felt louder than anything else was the diplomatic relationship between China and the US. I had a conversation with one senior UK government official who made their feelings clear. The Biden and Ji Xinping administrations need to find common ground fast if we are to make the significant progress needed so urgently. The current stand-off between the two is untenable for climate progress.
Collaboration is key
Whether intergovernmental, NGO or private sector it’s clear that there are a huge number of willing actors all pulling in the right direction. It’s critical that we find better ways to work together as a coalition of the willing, to move the needle even further. That means thinking about funding models and drivers (both political and private). Talk of collaboration is loud but in practice duplication of work and fighting to be seen as ‘the leader’ is more common that it should be.
The puzzle pieces are in hand
Something that’s clearer than ever is that we do have all the pieces of the solutions puzzle, we just need to put them together and quickly! There’s a massive range of actions that are needed on climate change, from behavioural change, policy environments and renewable energies to carbon sequestration and climate repair -we know what to do and even how to do it. The job now is to ensure the puzzle is put together as quickly as possible, it’s no mean feat but it is doable and everyone I spoke to was clear in that common belief.
My parting thought from the week is about being single-minded and bold in our communications around the climate crisis. I’ve written previously about why science communications can be really challenging, I think it’s our job as communicators to cut through the nuance and complexity that can surround climate science and deliver bold, simple messaging that is unapologetic about where we are today and perhaps more importantly where we need to be tomorrow.
