Climate Week NYC 2025 will gauge momentum in the global transition ahead of COP30
Climate Week NYC returns September 21-28, 2025, for its 17th edition. Operating under the banner "Power On," the event will host more than 900 activities and deliver an unequivocal message: the time has come to deploy solutions at scale. As COP30 in Brazil approaches, governments, businesses, and civil society will gather to transform promises into concrete action.
For eight days, New York will anchor the global climate agenda. Timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly, Climate Week 2025 will stage more than 900 events—from closed-door summits to public forums—that underscore how urgently the world must decarbonize, transform its energy systems, innovate industrially, and mobilize sustainable finance.
The theme of this year’s edition, “Power On,” urges a shift from debate to delivery. The phrase—read as “turn on,” “activate” or “set in motion”—signals momentum. Organized by The Climate Group, Climate Week frames the task plainly: act now and turn commitments into tangible projects that accelerate the transition.
The 2025 edition carries added weight, landing just weeks before COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and positioning New York as a strategic place to gauge the ambition of governments, companies and organizations. International leaders; heads of multilateral bodies; executives of large firms; experts, academics and activists; and civil‑society representatives are expected, making Climate Week a red‑letter event on the global calendar.
Thematic areas of Climate Week NYC 2025
Climate Week NYC 2025 has structured its program around ten major themes spanning urban planning to sustainable finance. Sessions will examine how to transform the built environment through sustainable construction, energy retrofits, and transport electrification. Participants will explore how the transition to clean energy sources and supporting policies can halve global emissions within the decade. Environmental justice will feature prominently, amplifying voices from the most vulnerable communities, while finance leaders will discuss how to mobilize public and private capital for projects that both decarbonize economies and create green jobs.
The agenda also tackles food system transformation, public health threats from heat waves and emerging diseases, and the decarbonization of emissions-intensive industries—steel, cement, aluminum, and plastics—through circular economy approaches. Sessions on ocean, forest, and biodiversity conservation will complement discussions on advancing public policies across all government levels and promoting sustainable lifestyles, creating a comprehensive program designed to accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality.
A key inauguration to measure climate ambition
On Monday, September 22, international leaders will convene for the opening ceremony to examine how climate change threatens economies and societies, and to shape the decisions that will guide global action in the years ahead.
Heads of state, leaders of international organizations, business executives, and civil society representatives will deliver addresses. Panels and discussions will explore the costs of inaction, the imperative to accelerate decarbonization, and the growth opportunities emerging from the green transition. The ceremony will serve as a platform for announcing progress and measuring ambition.
'The Hub Live': cooperation and innovation to accelerate climate action
After the opening ceremony, Climate Week’s interactive program, “The Hub Live,” runs on September 22–23. Billed as a meeting ground for those driving climate action, it will bring together heads of government, business leaders and international experts for three sessions and dozens of side events, roundtables and collaborative working sessions. The aim is clear: share experience, tackle the most pressing obstacles and accelerate the innovation and cooperation needed to advance climate action.
The Hub Live will be structured around four main areas of work:
- Industry and the built environment: addressing solutions for decarbonizing construction and heavy industry.
- Energy and transportation: focused on accelerating the transition to clean sources and low-carbon mobility.
- Nature, food systems, and health: with the challenge of strengthening food security and ecosystem resilience in the face of the climate crisis.
- Leadership and green growth: focusing on financing the transition and ensuring that it is fair and inclusive.
The key events of Climate Week 2025
Among this year's side events, Food Day 2025 will convene leaders across sectors to transform food systems into powerful levers for curbing climate change while improving health and biodiversity. "The Future is Ours to Build" will rethink America's role in global conservation through new ideas and inclusive proposals. Cultural and citizen mobilization initiatives will punctuate the program, including the Battery Tour Concert, a Times Square performance by activist AY Young powered entirely by renewable energy.
The BIPOC Climate Justice Summit, opening the week at Columbia University, marks another program highlight. Now in its fifth year, the summit will unite frontline communities, researchers, funders, and government officials to build collective power and advance climate justice.
BBVA's role at Climate Week NYC
During Climate Week NYC, BBVA will join debates on sustainable finance, blended finance, carbon markets, clean fuels and climate change adaptation. The bank will share its view on mobilizing capital for transition projects and on strengthening international disclosure and transparency standards. Climate Week NYC 2025 urges a shift from commitment to execution.