Carbon Wagers at Climate Week: An Urgent and Promising Path to Sustainability
Activists and artists take stage at Climate Week NYC to promote the summit. Photo: The Climate Group
Climate activists and policymakers were in the spotlight at the yearly Climate Week summit in New York City, held from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29, This summit — the world's largest climate-focused event —featured over 900 events, marking a 50 percent increase from the previous year. It was organized in collaboration with the United Nations General Assembly and aligned with the 79th session of the General Assembly.
This year’s theme was “It’s Time,” a slogan expanded on by Climate Group’s CEO Helen Clarkson during the Opening Ceremony. Clarkson elucidated that it is time to:
Put people first;
Pay up;
Listen to citizens;
Be honest with ourselves; and
Have difficult discussions about fossil fuels.
Prior to the event, the organizer of Climate Week, the Climate Group, unveiled a seven-point global to-do list for governments and businesses. The group urged a transition from nonrenewable energies to renewable alternatives, with a particular emphasis on a 12-month deadline for action. This call to action follows global temperatures consistently breaking heat records for 12 months since May 2024, surpassing the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees.
Key themes from the week-long summit included discussions on nuclear energy, green banks, and carbon management, which are seen as the most promising areas for international cooperation. Across six summits, there were extensive talks about expanding the carbon market, aiming to establish a transnational system for the commodification and exchange of carbon emissions.
The primary existing carbon market system is the emissions trading system (ETS), which operates through government regulation or voluntary markets. Under this system, businesses are assigned emissions caps while being incentivized to engage in the trading of emissions credits. National and sub-national systems are already in development in countries such as Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. The establishment of this system was made possible by the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and the Paris Agreement of 2015, which laid the groundwork for an international emissions trading system.
Leaders from businesses and finance groups gather at the Xpansive panel. Source: Xpansive
The carbon market offers numerous advantages to developing countries. These nations are motivated to safeguard their forests in return for profits from the sale of carbon credits to industrialized nations. For instance, 15 developing countries participating in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility stand to earn up to $2.5 billion from the sale of carbon credits under the right market conditions.
“Blessed with natural resources, these countries are set to benefit from carbon markets by earning income from protecting forests and using their land more sustainably,” World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said.
The carbon market can be vital for African countries that are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis but contribute minimally to global emissions. The commercialization of sustainability has attracted climate-friendly investments from Switzerland to Ghana and from Japan to Namibia.
The promising prospects of carbon market programs have led to a series of developments announced during Climate Week. The Xpansive Climate Week Summit unveiled a $10 billion project for carbon initiatives, in collaboration with the American Carbon Registry. The Puro.earth CDR Summit included representatives from Google, JP Morgan, Frontier, and NextGen, who expressed their optimism for the carbon market and provided insights on sustaining its momentum. The California Climate Leadership Forum featured CARB Chair Liane Randolph sharing her policies, and Senators Henry Stern and Scott Weiner discussing their bill on emission disclosure.
The discussions at Climate Week highlighted two key themes regarding carbon: the crucial role of education in carbon reduction and the upcoming United Nations COP29 summit, scheduled to be held in November in Baku, Azerbaijan. Randall Hopkins, Nasdaq’s Global Head of ESG Solutions, emphasized the impact of education in making carbon reduction efforts more personal. Antti Vihaivanen, CEO of Carbon Herald Puro, pointed out that carbon removal is a rare area of consensus within the climate movement, stressing the importance of vocalizing shared goals.
There was palpable anticipation among Climate Week participants for COP29. The conference is expected to further develop Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to make it fully operational.
The progress made at Climate Week underscores the importance of international cooperation in driving carbon market initiatives. The collaboration between public and private, local and international programs inspires hope for a fair and sustainable future.