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Every September, global leaders congregate in New York City to drive climate action and share critical developments in the environmental space. This year, we were encouraged to see more collaborative conversations happening — in particular, around the interconnectedness between climate change, community well being, and biodiversity loss. And from major governmental programs to historic investments in green energy and the publication of sobering new research, the broad focus of the event led many to note that Climate Week could easily go by another name: “Earth Week.”
Climate Week 2024 kicked off with a speech by Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson, which acknowledged that, on climate, “our efforts can no longer be piecemeal.” In 2022, the IPCC shared that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 — or, around 5% every year. But even with a historically ambitious administration on climate change, the U.S. only reduced emissions by 1.9% in 2023. And this January, for the first time ever, we exceeded 1.5 degrees of warming for 12 months. In other words? The world is not acting fast enough.
We need concrete action on emission reductions, alongside other important interventions like the conservation and restoration of global ecosystems. As Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland (United Kingdom) said in a moving speech: “We are the first generation to suffer from climate change – and the last generation to be able to do anything about it.” Now is the time, and we are the ones we have been waiting for.
1. The Biden-Harris Administration launched a historic nationwide Environmental Justice Climate Corps.
The Environmental Justice Climate Corps will be implemented through a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps. It’s part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps, a workforce training and service initiative established to provide more young people with access to skills-based training for good paying careers in the clean energy and climate resiliency economy. The partnership will allow 250 AmeriCorps VISTA members to serve in roles over the next three years that will benefit disadvantaged communities. The first cohort of the corps is expected to begin in 2025.
2. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new campaign to encourage 1 million Californians to take everyday actions to help combat climate change.
This builds upon the successful California Climate Action Corps, which was announced at Climate Week NYC in 2020. Despite being a leader on climate change — including launching the world’s first plan to achieve Net Zero Carbon Pollution by 2045, the state’s greenhouse gas emissions are significant. However, they are making progress: between 2000-2022, the state’s emissions fell by 20%. And despite an emissions increase in 2022, California’s emissions were on track again in 2023, at 2.4% lower compared to 2022. While that is below the 5% yearly decrease recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it’s higher than the U.S as a whole — and it’s positive progress that was achieved alongside significant economic growth.
3. Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter launched new research in partnership with Climate Group, about climate tipping points.
The report laid out how governments can trigger a “global cascade of positive tipping points” by setting four clear mandates to funnel investment dollars away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy technologies. Researchers found that these regulatory mandates, with specific timeframes, would help clean technologies become cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives up to three years faster. This would reduce carbon emissions in the power, transport and heating sectors by at least 75% by 2050.
4. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he is suing ExxonMobil.
This historic lawsuit alleges that the company engaged in a “decades-long campaign of deception” to mislead the public on the merits of plastic recycling. The state alleges that these messaging tactics significantly contributed to the global plastics waste crisis by causing consumers to buy and use more single-use plastic than they would have otherwise. The lawsuit follows over two years of investigation by the Department of Justice into the role of fossil fuel and petrochemical companies in the crisis — and it’s part of a growing cohort of lawsuits attempting to hold oil and gas companies accountable.
5. 40 green banks across the United States announced a new partnership to facilitate a historic wave of clean energy investment
The banks, who were collectively responsible for over $10 billion in new investments in 2023 alone, are public, quasi-public, and nonprofit financial organizations that are focused on accelerating the clean energy transition. The group, called GB50, is playing an important role in implementing several federal climate programs, including the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established by the Inflation Reduction Act.
6. The IEA published a report that explores how implementing the energy pledges made at COP28 could work for the global energy system and its emissions.
The report outlines the risks of partial implementation, which would impede international efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. Additionally, it discusses how countries can integrate COP28 goals with their next round of targets under the Paris Agreement. The IEA also presented a framework for tracking progress on oil and gas emissions, in partnership with IMEO and and EDF.
While this is just a small slice of what happened during Climate Week this year, it demonstrates the shifting dynamics of climate action — and leaves us hopeful and determined. There’s so much work left to do, but positive change is still possible — and action is ramping up around the world. Reforestation is one powerful and proven climate change mitigation strategy. You can contribute to the climate fight by planting trees today!