Hill Heat

After the year we’ve had, we all deserve a drink. The first few rounds are on us.

​New venue. After three years underground at Nothing Really Matters, we’ve come up in the world — one flight, but still. This year we’re at Tanner Smith’s, 204 W 55th Street. Please note the change. If you show up at the subway station out of habit, you will find a subway station.

​Socialize, drink, and plot the downfall of Big Oil. Same agenda, better ventilation.

RSVP

09/21/2026 at 08:00PM

Big Tech wants to use AI to replace the working class and make themselves rich. To do this they need to build data centers across the country that raise our utility bills, pollute our communities, and worsen the climate crisis. People see clear as day that Big Tech’s vision for the future means our communities are destroyed, the working class is broke, and our planet is cooked. Our government has the power to protect us from Big Tech by passing data center moratoriums and regulating AI. That’s why ChatGPT executive Greg Brockman invested $25 million into Trump’s super PAC earlier this year, making him Trump’s top donor. Join us to rally against OpenAI’s massive data center buildout, their support for authoritarian leaders, and to demand our elected officials protect our communities and our future.

4:00pm - Meet Up and March at Sarah D Roosevelt Park (Chrystie St and Houston St)
5:00pm - Rally at Open AI Offices 295 Lafayette St, Manhattan

Part of the Unplug AI Week of Action.

09/21/2026 at 04:00PM

Good climate journalism can have real-world impact. It can expose wrongdoing, prompt official action, bring attention to people who have been underserved or marginalized, and help audiences understand and critique possible solutions.

​This session, presented with the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now, will reframe journalism as a climate solution unto itself. Through clips, images, audio, and conversation, the journalists behind the work will discuss the stories they reported, the audiences they reached, and what the impact has been.

​During the second part of the session, we’ll discuss journalism as a powerful solution to climate change. How can strong reporting build public understanding and hold powerful institutions accountable? What hurdles stand in the way — including political hurdles but also funding hurdles for journalism? And how can journalists equip audiences with the information they need to effectively respond to the climate crisis?

​Speakers

• ​Geoff Dembicki, Global Managing Editor of DeSmog
• ​Jazzmin Jiwa, Investigative Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker
• Nina Dietz, Journalist & Documentarian
• ​Jason Spingarn-Koff, filmmaker, journalist, and Professor and Knight Chair of Climate Journalism at UC Berkeley
• David Akana, Director of Programs at Mongabay Africa

​Moderator

• Mark Hertsgaard, Executive Director at Covering Climate Now

SVA Theatre
333 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011, USA

09/21/2026 at 03:30PM

The Sixty-Five Million Dollar Letter: a panel event on the price of free speech and advocacy under attack. Join us for an extraordinary moment of reminiscence and resistance, where members of the HALT DAPL 500 speak out for the first time following the $345 million judgment against the Greenpeace organizations.

This will be an extraordinary moment of reminiscence and resistance, where members of the HALT DAPL 500, speak out for the first time following the $345 million judgment against the Greenpeace organizations.

Back in November 2016, Greenpeace International co-signed the “Halt your support for DAPL” letter coordinated by BankTrack with 500+ others. That signature was the only relevant act resulting in a $65 million judgment against Greenpeace International.

Speakers:

• Mads Christensen, Executive Director for Greenpeace International,
• Natali Segovia, Executive Director for Water Protector Legal Collective,
• Anne Jellema, Executive Director for 350,
• Elizabeth Bast, Executive Director for Oil Change International,
• Rebecca Brown, President & CEO for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL),
• Ryan Brightwell, Deputy Director and Banks & Human Rights Campaign Lead at BankTrack, and
• Michelle Chan, Board Chair for BankTrack.

This event brings together people and organisations who spoke up and joined together to send the letter expressing concerns to the banks that financed the pipeline. As civic space comes under attack and protecting free speech and protest is more important than ever, this is a space to design how we can fight attempts by the fossil fuel industry to silence advocacy in support of Indigenous Peoples rights, water protection and climate justice.

When: Monday 21 September 2026 from 2-4 pm. (2-2:30 networking and refreshments, event starts at 2:30 pm)

Where: New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street, New York City in the Meeting Hall.

RSVP

09/21/2026 at 02:00PM

At this roundtable, activist and content creators talk about LNG campaigns to:

​Identify narratives to test what is not working with the public, hot takes and create content.

​Brief overview by Oil Change International on energy economics and policy around LNG, data centers, and the US role as a fossil fuel enabler globally.

​Find common targets (proponents, governments, industry actors) to scheme campaign actions.

​Share learnings and good practices in the current political moment.

​This is our opportunity to stop near-term emissions before LNG infrastructure is built, and to show that transnational solidarity across North America can move faster than industry money and geopolitical pressure.

​Why is this happening? ​The fight against fossil fuels is moving offshore, and it is moving across borders. LNG is the fastest growing segment of the fossil fuel industry, on track for the largest LNG export-capacity buildout in history. It is sold as a “bridge to clean energy,” despite methane emissions and new infrastructure that can deepen dependence on gas for decades. Offshore extraction already supplies nearly one third of global oil and gas output, while 85 percent of new oil and gas discoveries in 2024 were located in just ten offshore fields.

​This is not only a US fight, but the United States is central to the global LNG boom. Canada, Mexico, and the US are expanding LNG export capacity along connected coastlines, waters, and gas systems, while Asia and Europe are becoming more LNG dependent. The same financial institutions repeatedly enable this expansion with 6 banks supplying 80 percent of US bank financing for LNG expansion between 2021 and 2023, totalling $51.2 billion.

​Building on the work of the Say No to LNG coalition in Canada, the Global LNG Working Group, Gulf South organizers in the US, Whales or Gas in Mexico, and the many local movements leading resistance, we will convene at NYCW to exchange ideas, align strategy and actions, and develop content that breaks beyond our echo chambers.

​Who is hosting this session? ​Jose Reyeros is a climate justice activist, working to advance solutions and amplify civil society efforts within policy networks. His advocacy efforts with the Chilli App focus on stopping fossil fuel expansion in the ocean and amplifying the science and storytelling needed to represent coastal communities and biodiversity in public narratives and policy. He brings years of campaigning experience to protect the Gulf of California from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure and build coalitions with grassroots and conservation networks across North America.

​”This year, I have joined lines with the Confronting CeraWeek network, supported protests in Mexico with the WhalesOrGas coalition and worked in communications + strategy with Say No to LNG in Canada. After the Santa Marta Transition Away from Fossil Fuels Conference, I bring ambition to connect activists, science and policy for ambitious progress for Just Transitions in the ocean and #MakeRichPollutersPay

​More about Keanu Arpels-Josiah

​Keanu Arpels-Josiah (he/him), is a youth climate justice organizer and activist born and raised on Munsee Lenape land in what is called New York City, and is currently working to build connections across various youth movements and fights from the local to the global. He’s been a core organizer and the policy co-lead with Fridays For Future NYC, where he’s advocated for action on climate justice and legislation on the local, state, federal, and international governmental levels since high school. In 2023, he was one of the lead organizers of the March To End Fossil Fuels, organizing with a multigenerational intersectional coalition to plan and mobilize for a 75,000-person march in N.Y.C., calling on President Biden to stop expanding and phase out fossil fuels. Currently, he also helps coordinate Fridays For Future USA in some campaign areas and works as an advisor to Sunrise Movement NYC’s electoral team.

​About Chilli

​Chilli is a digital action for climate and social justice. Every action on the platform takes under two minutes. We act as a hub for petitions, open letters, pressure campaigns designed for people who care but don’t have time to waste. chilli exists to close the gap between your audience knowing something is wrong and actually doing something about it.”

Location The Bench
49 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013, USA

09/21/2026 at 01:30PM

Climate change and nature loss are reshaping insurance markets and widening the protection gap. More frequent and severe floods, storms, wildfires, and droughts are driving losses higher, while degraded ecosystems are reducing the natural protections communities rely on, from flood absorption to heat mitigation. Together, these trends are pushing climate-related insured losses up by an unsustainable 5% to 7% annually in real terms. This session will focus on practical solutions to close the growing insurance gap by aligning policy, regulation, finance, insurance practice, and investment in nature.

Hosted by David Kuhn, Corporate Resilience Lead, WWF-US and Josh Goldman Senior Director, Climate Communications, WWF-US

Opening remarks

• Sam Medlock, Principal, Climate Risk Advisors

Speakers:

• Lia Cairone, Director of Sustainability & Resilience at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget
• Sarah Conway, Climate, nature, and disaster risk finance expert
• Francis Bouchard, Managing Director, Climate, Marsh

Moderated by John Morton, Executive Managing Director, Nature Finance, WWF

Closing remarks:

• Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

With Rep. Kathy Castor (Fla.-14) (cancelled)

At the Fordham Law School at Lincoln Center.

RSVP

09/21/2026 at 01:00PM

1:00 PM-2:00 PM Panel 1: Voluntary corporate climate targets: New data and a new tool

Do voluntary corporate climate targets make a difference? How have these targets evolved over time? In this session, Harvard researchers will launch a free and publicly available data set and interactive tool built to help researchers and practitioners probe voluntary climate action.

This session will provide an exclusive look at new insights from the study, covering Russell 3000 companies’ commitments and emissions data over 24 years.

Participants will walk-through the Salata Institute’s new database and interactive climate targets tool, learning ways to use this new resource for research, planning, reporting, and more.

2:30 PM-3:30 PM Panel 2: Do offsets have a future?

Carbon offset markets fail for many reasons – from adverse selection to moral hazard to over-crediting. Can these markets be repaired? Do offsets have any role to play in future decarbonization?

Hear from leaders grappling with these questions at a key inflection point for offsets, as the EU, CORSIA, and Singapore open compliance regimes to credits.

4:00 PM-5:30 PM Panel 3: Extreme heat: is it too hot to thrive?

As El Niño intensifies in the Pacific, communities around the world, from Dhaka to London, are already reeling from extreme heat.

In this session, we share findings from innovative research measuring the impact of extreme heat on workers in the informal labor economy in India, and platform (gig) workers in New York City, to raise tough questions: what strategies are working or need to be designed to address these new findings? How does evolving research challenge our notions of survivability? What legal and financial tools exist to address productivity losses and to protect workers’ health?

Join researchers from Harvard and CUNY in conversation with city officials, workers and corporations seeking to address these challenges globally.

5:30 PM-7:30 PM Networking Reception

Stay and connect with Harvard alumni, researchers, practitioners, and leaders at an evening reception co-sponsored by Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment, C-CHANGE, The Environmental and Energy Law Program (EELP) at Harvard Law School and The Business and Environment Initiative at Harvard Business School.

The reception will include brief remarks by Peter Tufano, Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School and Senior Advisor to the Salata Institute, along with HACE representatives, on ways to connect with a growing community of alumni working to advance climate solutions.

If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about physical access, please contact [email protected] in advance of the event.

Vanderbilt University, Chelsea Square Campus
429 West 20th Street, New York, NY

09/21/2026 at 01:00PM

Artificial intelligence is reshaping our communities faster than most public conversations can keep up. From the rapid expansion of data centers to growing questions about democracy, public health, energy, and economic justice, AI is one of the defining environmental justice issues of our time.

During Climate Week NYC, Building Equity & Alignment for Environmental Justice and One Square World invite grassroots leaders, funders, and movement partners to join us for a half-day summit exploring what it will take to build a just future that centers community power, democratic decision-making, and environmental justice.

Monday, September 21 @ Malt House – Harlem
471 West 126th Street (Between Convent & Amsterdam Avenues)

New York, NY 10027

Register for either session or stay for the whole summit

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

12-1pm Networking Hour (a light lunch will be provided)

Part 1 (1:00-3:00pm)

The $4.3 Trillion Question: Are Just Data Centers Possible?

The rapid expansion of AI data centers, driven in part by a growing demand for AI and other computing, is profoundly impacting the health, economies, and climate resilience of communities across the country. In response, residents are organizing to shape, challenge, and influence data center development, and to ensure their voices and concerns are reflected in planning and decision-making. As communities, public officials, environmental, tech organizations, and funders seek to respond to growing community organizing and debate, one question continues to emerge: Is there a model for developing good data centers?

This conversation will explore these questions from different perspectives, including what it would take for data center development to be responsive to community priorities, public needs, environmental and health concerns, and democratic decision-making.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance – moderator
• Denise Patel, WeACT for Environment Justice
• Tristan Thomas, Alternatives for Community and Environment
• KD Minor, Alliance for Affordable Energy
• Khalil Shahyd, National Resources Defense Council

Part 2 (3:00-5:00pm)

Funding a Just Future in the Age of AI

If we want to build out a just future –one where our communities have the health, prosperity, and self-determination we need to thrive in a world shaped by AI– it has to be resourced the same way that our current AI systems have been. What scale of funding is needed, and what should that funding go toward? How can philanthropic and investment entities shift their funding to support a just and equitable future? Join us to hear from a panel of grassroots leaders and funders about how they are addressing these issues and advancing sustainability, economic justice, and democracy.

Confirmed Speakers:

• KD Chavez, Climate Justice Alliance – moderator
• Dwaign Tyndal, Alternatives for Community and Environment
• Philip Eubanks, Climate Emergency Fund
• Destiny Hodges, Generation Green

09/21/2026 at 12:00PM

The strongest climate solutions are built with the people most affected by climate and environmental challenges.

The Climate Justice Hub brings together frontline leaders, advocates, policymakers, researchers, funders, students and other changemakers to build the partnerships needed to advance lasting, equitable climate solutions worldwide. Join the Frontline Resource Institute at Environmental Defense Fund for practical conversations, shared learning, and cross-sector collaboration as we explore how integrating frontline leadership into climate decision making leads to better outcomes for people and the planet.

​Schedule

Stick around between panels for networking and light refreshments. Lunch will be provided from 1:00-2:00 pm.

​10:00 – 11:00 am | Storytelling for Climate Justice

Exploring the power of storytelling for environmental justice and how organizations can tell their stories and protect their interests in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Moderator: Dr. Margot Brown, Environmental Defense Fund

Panelists:

• ​Lil Milagro Henriquez, Mycelium Youth Network
• ​Nina Lutz, University of Washington, KTLN Consulting
• Dr. Beverly Wright, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

​12:00 - 1:00 pm | Data to Action: What Communities Know, How Cities Lead

Turning lived experience and local data into solutions for air pollution, extreme heat, and climate resilience.

Moderator: Sarah Vogel, Environmental Defense Fund

Panelists:

• Ali Abazeed, City of Detroit
• Brandi Jenkins, Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign
• Valentina Rojas Posada, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

​2:00 – 3:00 pm | AI, Data Centers, and Community Power

Exploring AI’s environmental justice impacts and how frontline communities can maintain agency as data center development expands.

Moderator: Arif Ullah, Executive Director of A2

Panelists:

• ​LaTricea Adams, Young, Gifted & Green
• Dionne Delli-Gatti, Continuum Strategies
• ​Dr. Katlyn Turner, University of Colorado Boulder, KTLN Consulting

​3:30 - 4:30 pm | Uplifting Frontline Voices in Research

Elevating frontline knowledge and community science to strengthen collaboration, climate research and people-centered solutions.

Moderator: Dr. Katlyn Turner, University of Colorado Boulder, KTLN Consulting

Panelists:

• ​Dr. Robert Bullard, Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice
• ​Rashida Ferdinand, Sankofa Community Development Corporation
• ​Manuel Salgado, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
• ​Dr. Beverly Wright, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

​4:30 - 5:30 pm | Closing Reception

Fordham University at Lincoln Center
113 W 60th St, New York, NY 10023, USA

09/21/2026 at 10:00AM

The rapid growth of AI, advanced computing and other emerging technologies is reshaping the economy and the energy systems that power it. As electricity demand rises, technology companies, policymakers and energy leaders are confronting questions around how to scale innovation while strengthening the grid, accelerating cleaner energy and meeting long-term sustainability goals.

Join Axios House at Climate Week for an event on the intersection of technology, energy and climate. We’ll gather leaders across business, government and technology to discuss how innovation and policy can help meet growing energy needs, unlock new climate solutions and build a more resilient and sustainable economy.

One-on-one conversations with:

• Josh Parker, Head of Sustainability, NVIDIA
• Brian Schatz, Senator, Hawaii (D)

10:00am | Doors open

10:30am | Mainstage conversations

11:30am | Event ends

GH on the Park
54 W. 40th St
New York, NY 10018

RSVP

09/21/2026 at 10:00AM