What happened at Climate Week NYC 2025 - News and CSO insights

Climate Week once again took New York City by storm from September 21 to 28, with sustainability leaders determined to power on and focus on practical action amid political setbacks.

The irony of US President Donald Trump taking to the stage at the UN General Assembly to call climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” – in the same city and at the same time as thousands of people who have dedicated their careers to tackling the climate crisis put their heads together to accelerate the transition – is not lost on anyone.

In this context, many Climate Week NYC 2025 attendees were understandably nervous about this year’s event. “A lot can change in a year, which is why I came into Climate Week NYC a little wary of what I was going to find,” explains former Decathlon Chief Sustainability Officer Anna Turrell.

But for most, the gathering and its more than 1,000 events ended up instilling a renewed sense of hope, and fresh inspiration to continue the work. “I was so positively surprised, not only by all the amazing work that continues to be done but by the energy that surrounds it,” Turrell continues.

“Yes, we’ve got some very real, near-term challenges (if ever there was an understatement…), but there’s a sense of emerging clarity around the job to be done and an honesty about what’s feasible and what’s not that I haven’t felt before.”

"There’s a sense of emerging clarity around the job to be done and an honesty about what’s feasible and what’s not that I haven’t felt before." Anna Turrell

Ann Tracy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, seems to agree: “The discussions were smaller, authentic and action oriented.  The themes of driving value creation and collective action continued to emerge and evolve. In fact, the direction is moving towards greater collective action including co-investment strategies.”

Like other global climate events, it was also the perfect opportunity for companies, coalitions and authorities to share progress and new initiatives: this year, many of the announcements revolved around sustainability reporting and transparency, nature action, and climate adaptation.

Nature takes centre stage

There is a growing recognition among corporate leaders that investing in nature is indispensable in the fight against climate change. “We know that we cannot solve the climate crisis without protecting nature, whether that's forests, wetlands, the oceans and beyond. It is not only vitally important for planet Earth, but for human health as well. It affects our food supply chains, our full ecosystems and our future resilience,” said IKEA Chief Sustainability Officer Karen Pflug in sharing her three main takeaways from Climate Week.

It is telling that one of the top announcements last week was about companies committing to protecting and restoring nature through the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN): Danish Pelagic Producers Organization, Musholm, Orkla Foods Sweden, Seatopia and Waitrose all joined a pilot to set the first ocean science-based targets for the seafood sector, based on guidance released last March. GSK also validated its land science-based target, while 10 companies have already set land and freshwater targets. “In all, 150 companies are preparing to set science-based targets for nature, with at least US$5.5 trillion in market capitalization already represented – underscoring the scale of ambition now underway,” SBTN notes.

“We know that we cannot solve the climate crisis without protecting nature." Karen Pflug

In a separate update, the Task force for Nature-based Financial Disclosures (TNFD) also said that 620 organisations from over 50 countries have now adopted its framework for nature disclosures.

At the jurisdictional level, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) announced by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at COP28 and set to be officially launched in November at COP30 garnered new support during the UN General Assembly last week. Brazil itself will contribute US$1 billion towards the proposed US$125 billion fund, and was backed by a coalition of 34 governments.

Towards greater corporate transparency

Despite recent efforts to harmonise reporting standards, many companies still find themselves frustrated by the patchwork of guidance and regulations they have to comply with. So it is perhaps no surprise that reporting and transparency were also widely discussed at Climate Week.

The Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency (TCAT) was launched last week to help companies adjust to a fast-evolving climate reporting landscape – with two guidance documents already available.

“Existing guidance helped companies get started, but as climate strategies have evolved, guidance hasn’t kept pace. That’s left ambition stalled, capital left on the sidelines, and public trust under strain. TCAT changes that,” said Alexia Kelly, Managing Director of the Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative at the High Tide Foundation and a member of the Task Force.

"It is an opportunity to bring key players together to spark actionable conversations on how to scale progress faster." Jim Andrew

And amid the recent carbon market ‘revival’ and a realisation that carbon finance is a crucial tool in the fight against climate change, the Carbon Data Open Protocol (CDOP) launched in March released its first set of rules to harmonise the wording and criteria around carbon credit projects.

The CDOP Version 1.0 structure provides standardised definitions for five foundational data categories: location; project details and approach; disclosures; and issuances, helping support technical alignment across registries, platforms, buyers, project developers, and institutional investors.

"This is one of the most significant collaborative steps toward carbon market standardisation we've seen to date," said Nikodem Lacki, Data as a Product Head, S&P Global Commodity Insights. "Establishing common data foundations across voluntary and compliance markets, removes structural barriers that have prevented institutional capital from flowing efficiently into climate solutions."

‘Progress over perfection’

Many CSOs noticed a shift in conversations towards the nitty gritty of turning targets into real outcomes.

“Despite different challenges the overall mood was an encouraging mix of positivity and determination: the food and ag sustainability actors have collectively moved past the era of pledges and are now more firmly than ever in the middle of operationalising necessary change. The focus has shifted decisively to speaking the same language, aligning targets and taking concrete action,” writes Roel van Poppel, ofi Chief Sustainability Officer.

This reflects a focus on “progress over perfection”, according to Pflug. “This is about action catching up with ambition. We all know that we can’t wait for the perfect solution, the perfect regulation, the perfect process. We need to come together, collaborate, test-try, learn from each other and keep that momentum going. Speed is of the essence,” the IKEA CSO added.

"The focus has shifted decisively to speaking the same language, aligning targets and taking concrete action." Roel van Poppel

In the US, progress over perfection is materialised in the way states are stepping up to fill federal gaps: the US Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors representing approximately 60% of the economy and 55% of the population, released new data during Climate Week showing its members have collectively reduced net greenhouse gas emissions 24% below 2005 levels, all while increasing their collective GDP by 34%. 

“This new analysis proves what we already know: our climate action is delivering real results,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who also announced a US$1 billion Sustainable Future Program to accelerate capital projects in New York’s transition to a cleaner, greener future. “We’re cutting pollution, growing our economies, and showing the nation that our bold measures are working.”

 Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer of PepsiCo, summed up the atmosphere in a post-Climate Week Linkedin post: “Real change happens when we transform the systems that shape our world. To accelerate climate action and strengthen the resilience of the global food system, we need bold, collective shifts—across industries, sectors, and governments. That’s why gatherings like Climate Week in New York matter so much – it is an opportunity to bring key players together to spark actionable conversations on how to scale progress faster.”