Written by María Ortiz Pérez, Taylor Goelz, Kitty Pollack, and Nadia Phyu

Last week, New York Climate Week took place alongside the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) High-level Week.

At the Aspen Institute’s Energy and Environment Program (EEP), we were fortunate to navigate between events on both stages, as our work engages with both domestic and global climate leaders alike.

Over the course of the week, our program organized 4 events, spoke on several panels, participated in numerous roundtables, and attended a handful of the 900 registered events reported by the Climate Group (not counting UNGA or other non-registered events) that convened business leaders, educators, academics, government representatives and NGO leaders to discuss a wide range of topics, from the re-envisioning of international climate governance to the use of media and the education sector to empower all young people with the understanding, knowledge, and skills they need for success in our changing climate to driving deep decarbonization through voluntary corporate climate action , and the road to net-zero.

Here are some insights we gathered from listening to this wide range of perspectives:

• There is often dissonance around priorities: The road to net-zero is paved with many different priorities. While diverse opinions can help create a more cohesive roadmap, trying to coordinate a path forward with many different priorities can be challenging. During Climate Week, we heard some stakeholders emphasize efficiency, while others emphasize justice and thorough community engagement. Accountability is #1 for some actors, while others emphasize speed. Finally, some emphasize the need to be visionary and others are prioritizing the need to collect quick wins and respond to the urgency of the moment.

• As a result, narratives are often falsely framed in “either/or” dichotomies, where one outcome precludes the other: We heard that climate change will only be solved through a degrowth agenda. We also heard that only capitalism and the competition it generates will spur the innovation necessary to solve the climate crisis. We heard that the Government is the primary vehicle for regulating and solving climate change. We also heard that the private sector is the main driver of climate action. Meanwhile, we also heard that climate action should be framed around success, not sacrifice, around all of the above, not one or the other.

• A bottom-up approach seems to be gaining more traction. With anything from Citizens Assemblies to localized action to address the climate crisis, there were consistent calls across actors to give people more agency and voice in climate processes at all levels, from the local to the global.

• Trust building is essential for climate action. Mistrust among nations, and political and societal fragmentation around climate was a shared concern among all stakeholders we spoke with. Many also emphasized the need to build more trust in society and institutions, seen as an essential component to address the climate crisis. Specifically, business leaders shared the mistrust that they are often faced with when taking voluntary action, and the limitations that mistrust and fear of being accused of “greenwashing” places on their efforts to innovate and collaborate in their climate goals.

• Communication among different actors still remains a significant barrier to action. The “Pact for the Future” is an international pact that was presented last week during UNGA, and is the latest UN effort to use its multilateral platform to address the great challenges of our time (including on climate change). While potentially hugely impactful, most attendees that we spoke with during NY Climate Week hadn't even heard about it, demonstrating a broader communication gap that is evident across the climate space, especially between global, multilateral leaders and grassroots actors. By the same token, many UNGA attendees we spoke with were not aware that NY Climate Week was happening, despite being one of the biggest climate gatherings in the US.

• There is strength in numbers: the impact that climate-leading companies can have by coming together to form coalitions for change is tremendous. Our Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is a case in point: ZEMBA is working with major global companies and is already kickstarting a market-driven transition to facilitate uptake of cleaner fuels in the global maritime shipping industry. What other areas and sectors could benefit from such an innovative approach?

• The education sector is a powerful tool to unlock climate action. 75% of Americans think we should be teaching about the causes, consequences, and solutions to climate change, and we heard about the immense opportunity to empower young people with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to face a changing climate.

In sum, there is no shortage of work to be done to improve inclusivity, communicate, and connect the dots across the broad network of climate leaders to create the broadest tent possible, pushing for action and solutions across sectors, across political lines, and across the globe.

But the sheer number of stakeholders and events in New York last week, up 50% from last year, is certainly cause for optimism. However, in the abundant events and receptions, it was also evident all who were missing, who may work at more localized non-profits without the budgets for long stays in New York or who may be from the Global South where the climate crisis is felt most acutely.

Our program is committed to building on this momentum to ensure that action and focus are sustained in the years to come. Change, especially around a systemic issue such as climate change, takes continuous effort. And this is not a time to get lost in “either/or” discussions. We must and will continue convening people around the one thing we can all agree on: solving climate change.