Largest-ever New York Climate Week makes space for philanthropy conversations

New York Climate Week 2025 was the largest that the city-wide climate gathering has ever been, hosting an unprecedented 1,000 registered climate events throughout the week and an estimated 100,000 people joining the action.

Amidst anxieties that the uncertain political climate could dampen the work at NYCW, the numbers and enthusiasm of participants brought hope to climate activists, funders, and others.

Read along for our coverage of the philanthropy conversation at climate week.

Interview

Helen Clarkson

Digital editor Elika Roohi gets a chance to catch up with Helen Clarkson, the CEO of the Climate Group, who is introducing the philanthropy conversation on the main stage of New York Climate Week. The two catch up about everything NYCW, where she sees philanthropy fitting into the big picture, and why it was especially important to platform philanthropy this year. Read more…

Event reports

B de Gersingy from Global Greengrants Fund writes about Relentless Hope: Movements Powering Climate Justice and Democracy, a NYCW 2025 event platforming frontline organisers in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and the Philippines to speak about shaping solutions in real time.

‘Grassroots communities not only defend land and life, but they are also reshaping the trajectory of our democratic institutions and societies,’ said Laura Garcia, GGF CEO. Read more…

Shaun Seow, Philanthropy Asia Alliance, speaks at the Climate Hub session ‘Bridging the gap: How and where is philanthropy stepping in on climate?’. Fundacion Ñeque’s Sigrid Vásconez Davidsson (left) and WINGS’ Benjamin Bellegy (right) join Seow on stage.

Ruby Chorbajian and Esther Hughes from Climate Group write about the conversation at the Climate Hub, including a session co-hosted by WINGS and Climate Group. ‘It is clear philanthropy’s power lies not solely in scale but in connection – its ability to listen, convene, and act across borders’ they write. Read more…

Attendee reflections

Mercy Corps Chief Climate Officer David Nicholson writes: ‘The impacts [of climate change] are everywhere —but the heaviest burdens fall on communities least equipped to respond. In many places, climate change isn’t just a stressor, it’s a “threat multiplier”: compounding poverty, weak governance, and conflict.” Read more…

Laurence Tubiana, European Climate Foundation CEO, and Sonia Medina, Chief Ecosystem Development Officer and Executive Director of Climate at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, write: ‘The next five to ten years will decide whether we can keep climate change within safe limits.’ Read more…

Lola Silva, communication strategist at GAGGA, writes: ‘New York Climate Week is a stage. A performance of promises. Strategies arranged behind panels. But for those building climate action day by day, the questions need reframing.’ Read more…

Honnold Foundation executive director Emily Teitsworth writes: ‘The best climate solutions immediately improve people’s lives by design, not by chance.’ Read more…

News

A total of $1.8 billion in funding has been committed to the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Forest Tenure pledge, according to a report released during New York Climate Week. The sum surpasses the goal of $1.7 billion raised over five years, set at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, a year ahead of schedule.

Alliance is able to make all its coverage of climate philanthropy paywall-free thanks to funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.