This Monday marked the kickoff of Climate Week in New York City. The United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2021, COP26, will collaborate with Climate Week NYC this year to raise awareness about the climate crisis and showcase the actions that countries, businesses, and individuals need to take to ramp up climate action.
The opening ceremony of Climate Week NYC featured several prominent speakers, including COP26 President-designate Alok Sharma, who stated that the next decade is vital to securing the future of our planet. “We need to act now to halve emissions over the next decade if we are to urgently prevent catastrophic climate change and avoid global temperatures rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Climate Week NYC, managed by the British group Climate Group, is the time and place where the world comes together to promote climate action and discuss the issue. This edition has adopted the theme Getting It Done.
Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group, said: “We will use Climate Week in New York to push people and businesses to take climate actions the right way. The last two years have shown us that change can be achieved, but it requires politicians and key decision-makers to align climate with innovation, financial support, and action.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul closed the opening ceremony by announcing two major green energy infrastructure projects to supply New York City with wind, solar, and hydropower projects from upstate New York and Canada. If approved, these infrastructure projects will create approximately 10,000 jobs statewide and bring $8.2 billion in economic development investments, including investments committed to developers to support underserved communities when completed, to help accelerate the state’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
This announcement will help reduce the city’s reliance on fossil fuels, decrease carbon emissions, and significantly improve air quality and public health in underserved communities, while also helping New York meet the goal of having 70 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030, on the path to a zero-emission grid, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).
“New York’s communities are repeatedly facing serious consequences as a result of the devastation caused by the global climate crisis; and the stakes have never been higher as we deal with the economic and environmental destruction that these extreme weather events leave behind,” said Governor Hochul. “These transformative projects are a win-win, creating thousands of new, well-paying jobs statewide and attracting billions of dollars in private investment. They also help us turn the page on New York City’s long-standing reliance on fossil fuels – and ensure that millions of New Yorkers, especially those living in our most vulnerable communities, can have cleaner air and a healthier future.
This announcement was bolstered by the confirmation from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“This is a transformative moment for New York City’s fight against climate change. Two new transmission lines, connecting New York City to electricity from water, wind, and solar capture, will create thousands of good union jobs, improve the resilience and reliability of our power supply, and drastically reduce our dependence on oil and gas electricity, which pollutes the air in our neighborhoods and jeopardizes our planet,” stated Bill de Blasio, adding that he will fulfill the commitment to power New York City’s government operations with 100% clean and renewable electricity by 2025.
VIVIANE FAVER
Journalist
vfaver@gmail.com