It was a tale of two cities within one. Last week in New York, the United Nations General Assembly convened presidents, prime ministers, and ministers from 193 nations against the backdrop of war in Gaza and Ukraine. Just blocks away, New York Climate Week gathered an entirely different crowd: business leaders, financiers, artists, academics, and activists mapping strategies for a planet under mounting strain.
The contrast was stark. In the UN’s marble halls, geopolitics dominated. In Climate Week’s venues across the city, the message was clear: the climate emergency is not waiting for consensus. As one speaker put it, “every step counts,” because every community is already facing the consequences of a warming planet.
Even as U.S. President Donald Trump told the Assembly that climate change is a “con job,” defunding science and research in the process, global leaders and citizens alike confronted the widening gap between politics and planetary reality. PBS noted: “The world U.S. President Donald Trump described in his speech didn’t match the one many leaders in the audience are contending with — nor what scientists have long been observing.”
Here are six takeaways from Climate Week 2025 that carry implications well beyond New York.
1. Focus on Materiality and Resilience
Climate risks are no longer abstract. Whether it is the energy bill for households, flood-prone cities, or wildfire-vulnerable communities, resilience has become a bottom-line concern. For businesses and governments alike, decisions are being framed through materiality: which risks matter most, and which actions protect both financial flows and communities over the long term.
2. Make Action “Radically Easy”
Artificial intelligence and digital tools are being deployed to simplify climate action. From energy data that guides cities toward cost-effective renewables, to consumer nudges toward sustainable food and clothing, the push is to make low-carbon choices seamless. The principle: if sustainability is the harder option, it will not scale fast enough.
3. Climate Must Be Cool
General Motors’ new Chief Sustainability Officer Cassandra Garber described how her children see EVs not as sacrifice, but as desirable. “When I did the math on total cost of ownership,” she told an audience, “the EV ended up cheaper once you factor in avoided costs like fuel and engine repairs.” The cultural shift — making sustainability aspirational rather than burdensome — was a recurring theme.
4. Entertainment Industry as a Force Multiplier
The “Music Biz Climate Hub in the Round” session spotlighted how artists can leverage their platforms. Billie Eilish was cited as an example, with tour contracts requiring venues to provide reusable bottles, plant-based concessions, and sustainable merchandise. Dylan Siegler, Head of Sustainability at Universal Music Group, emphasized that artists inserting sustainability riders is important but not sufficient: “It’s a gigantic ecosystem we need to tackle.” The entertainment sector’s influence on audiences and supply chains is increasingly seen as pivotal.
5. Integrate, Collaborate, Innovate
Procter & Gamble’s Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Helias framed the path forward as “integrate, collaborate, innovate.” Integration means embedding sustainability in corporate strategies. Collaboration means even rivals must work together to reshape industries. Innovation requires what she called “radical creativity,” citing cold-water laundry detergents as one simple, scalable solution.
6. Women’s Leadership is Climate Leadership
At sessions convened by Daughters for Earth, participants underscored how women face disproportionate climate risks, yet also bring unique capacity to build bridges across communities. From education to healthcare to local economic development, women’s leadership was described as essential to both resilience and equity. The imbalance, however, remains stark: men dominate most negotiation tables and corporate boards.
The Takeaway for Leaders
For UN officials, national policymakers, and multilateral institutions, the juxtaposition of UNGA and Climate Week in 2025 offers a sobering reminder. Geopolitical divides may stall agreements in Turtle Bay, but outside, a broad coalition of businesses, civil society, and cultural forces is innovating, mobilizing, and recalibrating.
The message from New York is clear: progress will come not only from global compacts, but from resilience built at every level — political, corporate, and cultural. And without embedding women, collaboration, and radical creativity into these efforts, resilience will remain out of reach.
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