Living in the COVID World ... and Beyond #38: NYC Climate Week
This is my first “trip report” blog. I was in NYC September 17-21 to participate in NYC Climate Week.
NYC Climate Week is a weeklong series of workshops, protest activities, planning meetings and more timed to occur when the United Nations is in session. Each year, business leaders, political change makers, local decision takers and civil society representatives of all ages and backgrounds, from all over the world, gather to educate each other and the general public about the climate crisis, celebrate positive actions already taken, and organize to accelerate progress to address climate degradation.
I had attended NYC Climate Week in 2019 (pre-pandemic) but just for a day or two … I attended a few workshops and participated as a panelist in another. This time, I was making a much bigger commitment. I arranged to stay at friends’ apartments in Manhattan during the week, I actively participated in planning meetings in advance of the week, I organized and prepared to lead two events, and planned a full week of learning and leading to help me become a more aware climate activist. I’ll write here about 4 events: the March to End Fossil Fuels, the workshop I led, the listening project that I organized and led, and what I learned attending eight hours of sessions about climate justice led by indigenous and people of color climate leaders from around the world.
March to End Fossil Fuels
It has been reported that around 70,000 people attended the March to End Fossil Fuels on Sunday, September 17th. I did not try to count … but it sure seemed like a lot of people. The March unfortunately coincided with the second day of Rosh Hashanah (given the timing of the UN being in session). A few weeks before the March, I wrote to the Rabbi of my synagogue about participating in the Marchand recruiting other congregants to attend with me. Thankfully, he responded positively and basically said that participating in this protest was a great way to honor the intent of the High Holidays. Five of us that have been involved with the Climate Group at our Temple attended the march, and at some point, we managed to find each other and take a group selfie.
For all who have participated in large group protests and marches, you know that it contradicts any feelings of isolation that you are battling alone. The March helped me, and I think all who were there, to notice that we are a unified force with shared concerns, and the rest of the week helped to cement that perspective in my mind.
How the Global North Can Take Responsibility for the Climate Crisis and Act
I led a session on how the Global North can take responsibility for the climate crisis. I had recruited a woman from Kenya and a man from Mexico to do the session with me. They spoke about the impact of the climate crisis in their respective countries and in the regions of Africa and Latin America more broadly. They were informed and passionate about the climate catastrophes that their homelands have faced and will face, and about the lack of financial wherewithal to effectively act to mitigate and adapt against the ongoing implications of climate change. I gave a talk about the role of the Global North much of which is covered in my previous blog (#37). There were about 50-60 people in attendance, they participated actively and shared some of their own experiences.
Listening Project on Wall Street
One tool that an organization that I am active in, Sustaining All Life (https://sustainingalllife.org), has developed is Listening Projects. Listening Projects are where a group of people go to a public space to engage passersby in an opportunity to be listened to about whatever the topic of the day happens to be. Although most of the action associated with NYC Climate Week was in the vicinity of the United Nations, I really wanted to try to connect with people that work in the financial district of NYC – Wall Street. This is consistent with both my background of having worked for many years in the corporate world and my desire to reach what I’m calling “the vast movable middle” --- these are people who are neither climate deniers nor climate activists, who mostly recognize that climate change is happening but who feel overwhelmed by their daily lives, unable to find the time to think about and immobilized to act regarding climate change. I believe sincerely that if these people are given the opportunity to be listened to, they will develop their own ideas, take in more information, and ultimately take constructive action in their own interest and the interest of the planet. So, nine of us convened in Wall Street carrying posters saying things like “Climate Crisis? We want to know what you think” and started to listen to the people who were willing to talk with us. We did our listening project during lunchtime, 11:30 – 1:30, figuring that more people would be out of their office buildings, and we were also lucky that it was a beautiful day. We listened to many people during those two hours, ranging from security guards to professional workers (and maybe a few tourists too). Those who stopped and talked with us seemed glad to have the opportunity to be listened to. My personal favorite conversation was with a professionally-dressed man who was definitely concerned about climate issues and talked about policies that the government should pursue. At one point, I asked him whether the climate crisis impacted his own behavior and he talked for a few minutes about his passion for global travel and the ethical dilemma (of increased carbon footprint) that it had for him. I was pleased to give him the opportunity to explore that issue out loud with an attentive audience.
Climate Justice Workshops
I attended about eight hours of workshops led by indigenous and people of color climate activists from around the world (Nigeria, Brazil, Central America, Canada, various parts of the United States). I heard first-hand accounts from these climate activists about the challenges
they were facing in their various locales. Among the consistent themes were corporations not paying attention to the needs of local/indigenous people, people of color communities being disproportionately impacted by fossil fuel extraction and transportation (e.g., pipelines), and the strength and ingenuity of these leaders of color to advocate for maintaining or restoring healthy air, water, and food for their local communities against well-funded opposition. One specific highlight was hearing a tribal leader of an island in the Bering Strait between the United States and Russia speak about how her island is a cancer alley (that everyone living on her island will at some point be diagnosed with cancer), that the islands in the Bering Strait are among the most populated places on earth, and that at least part of the reason is that the currents of the Pacific Ocean flow north so that pollution and waste in the Pacific Ocean will eventually make its way to the Bering Strait. I had understood about these issues of climate justice generally and it was eye-opening to listen to speaker after speaker detail, in a very personal way, what they were experiencing and how they were fighting for a healthy homeland for themselves and their people.
This was five days very well spent. I hope this “trip report” provides you with some of the same enthusiasm for climate activism that I came home with from NYC.