Hundreds of events underway as Climate Week NYC kicks off

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Ali Reid reported live from Climate Week NYC on Sept. 23, speaking with organizers about all that can be expected at the massive event.

Transcript

00:00And Climate Week kicked off yesterday in New York City, bringing together global leaders,

00:05businesses, and environmental activists.

00:08Our own Ali Reid is on the ground in the city as the events get underway.

00:12Ali, you've had a busy last 24 hours, and what can you tell us about what's going on

00:16today?

00:17Well, guys, when you talk about New York City, you know that constantly things are happening

00:24here, and certainly that's the case as we are live from the Glass House in New York

00:28City.

00:29We are live.

00:30Adam Lake, you are the head of engagement for Climate Week under Climate Group.

00:35How are you doing?

00:36Are you holding down the fort right now?

00:37I know you've had a busy couple of days.

00:39I'm good.

00:40It's day two.

00:41We have 900 events happening this week.

00:43Now, just to put that in perspective, last year we were tracking 600.

00:47We've grown 50 percent, and this is just day two.

00:49Well, when we were talking to you last summer, I said, Adam, what's the most important things

00:52that we should be focusing in on?

00:54And you told me, Ali, we need to talk about not just what's happening here, but all across

00:58the city.

00:59900 events, by the way.

01:01You shouldn't take that lightly.

01:02That's huge.

01:03So give me a little bit more of a perspective of what that will actually look like throughout

01:06the week.

01:07Absolutely.

01:08I think what's really important to us is that we engage at lots of different levels.

01:11So literally just behind this door here, you've got the attorney general for California talking

01:15about launching right now a major lawsuit against Exxon.

01:18So we're doing the high-level stuff.

01:20But across the five boroughs of New York City, we're working with schools, artists, grassroots

01:24campaigners and so many other people, and we're finding ways that are free and open

01:28for them to engage in the week.

01:30People want to learn about things.

01:31They want to meet other people, and they want to collaborate.

01:34And that's what's so important for us this week.

01:37And why is it so important to get that word out, that message out to not only people that

01:42are here in New York City this week, but across not only the United States, but the globe?

01:47That's the big thing, is bringing people in all over the world for something like this.

01:50I think climate change is a big challenge, and we're only going to win this if we bring

01:53everyone together.

01:54And I think that's what's so amazing.

01:55900 events, each one of those events are bringing hundreds of people together who want to do

02:00good.

02:01And I think that's what's so important, because if we don't have the whole of the city on

02:04board, then we're not going to win this fight.

02:06And I think 900 events, I'm feeling really positive that we're going to get stuff done.

02:10Our strapline this year is it's time, and it is certainly time this week.

02:13Well, and you mentioned just some things that are happening around, literally on the opposite

02:17side of this wall right now, you mentioned the attorney general in California is mentioning

02:21something really, really important.

02:22The lawsuit against Exxon, absolutely.

02:24Yeah, and that's happening as we speak.

02:26So there is, I mean, there's constant movement at something like this, right?

02:29There's constant movement.

02:30We're going to see announcements from governments.

02:32We're going to see announcements from businesses, but we're also going to see local campaign

02:36groups who are winning the fight.

02:37You know, there's some fantastic things happening in New York City.

02:40There's going to be a hydro-powered pipeline of energy coming through to reduce energy

02:44emissions in Queens by 20%.

02:47That switch gets turned on next year.

02:48These are things that have a real impact on air quality, on asthma rates, on everyone's

02:53lives.

02:54And I think that's what we're trying to bring out of this week, is how can we tell these

02:56stories and make people understand this is a fight we can win.

03:01It's also all about timing too.

03:02The UN also happening this week as well.

03:05So you guys, I know, planned that out accordingly to make sure that the right representatives,

03:10the right people are also going to be here in the city at that time.

03:12Is that right?

03:13Absolutely.

03:14So this is the 16th year that we're hosting Climate Week NYC, and we purposely did it

03:18during the UN General Assembly because we thought if all the leaders are here in New

03:21York, they don't need to travel to Climate Week because they're already here.

03:24They're already here.

03:25They're already here.

03:26And 16 years later, this has just grown into something so massive.

03:28We work very closely with the UN, they're fantastic partners of ours, and they do the

03:33big head of state and we do everybody else.

03:35So as you guys can hear from Adam, certainly a busy couple of days ahead, not only just

03:40yesterday, today, but moving throughout the week.

03:42I also mentioned earlier our founder of AccuWeather, Dr. Joel Myers, is also at an event today

03:48as well.

03:49We're going to be heading there, guys.

03:51We have a lot on our plate today.

03:53Certainly one of them is going to be speaking to him later on this afternoon.

03:57Allie Reed is going to do a lot of work this week, Climate Week, and then getting ready

04:03for our hurricane, unfortunately, coming toward the Central Coast states as we head into Thursday.

04:09All right, Allie, we appreciate you being live for us in New York City.

04:13We want to leave you guys with a few more climate change facts.

04:17Did you know that 2023 was the hottest year recorded since 1850?

04:21If you didn't, now you know.

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