Bianca Lopez of Valley Improvement Projects has been successfully organizing against climate scams such as the Covanta Incinerator company’s marketing of “waste to energy.”  Photo credit: Bianca Lopez

This was my first experience checking out New York Climate Week up close. In past years, we have observed this annual Manhattan event from afar, noting how climate funders and venture capital mingle with UN delegations, big NGOs and celebrity influencers, often promoting false solutions like neoliberal policy schemes like Net Zero, and corporate techno-scams like CCS.

Some of our sister alliances such as Climate Justice Alliance and Indigenous Climate Action have diligently leveraged this annual week to create space for leaders of frontline communities to lift up the first-hand knowledge and vision of climate justice struggles. Others have organized popular tribunal spaces to record direct testimony of communities who have historically been most harmed – from EJ communities in the US, to those in the Global South, where the poor clearly see that climate chaos is driven by the systems of colonial extractivism that also rob and destroy their lands, lives and livelihoods.

However, with over 700 events officially registered for this gala week (organized by The Climate Group), and the slick choreography and extravagant production value associated with most of these – it was hard to discern whether this extravaganza was simply a fancy marketplace for disaster capitalism, or an authentic convening of people serious about tackling the world’s largest existential crises. Perhaps it is both of these and much more… time will tell.

The Just Transition Alliance’s strategic objectives for coming to NYC climate week were three-fold:

Discussing just transition strategies to tackle the systemic drivers of climate chaos.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan

1. Following a summer of conference calls between local unions and EJ community leaders from across the country, we held an in-person meeting to plan for an EJ-Labor Leadership Forum in 2025 – to cultivate alignment, shared vision and solidarity between our movements, at the intersection of tackling climate chaos, dismantling racialized capital and organizing local and regional just transition tables for a people’s economy. In the context of these turbulent political times, we also discussed how neoliberal climate schemes, coupled with the false-binary of “jobs vs. environment,” are being used to drive deeper racialized divisions across the country.

EJ & Labor leaders meet to discuss solidarity strategies for 2025 and beyond.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan

2. We leveraged our NYC visit to introduce our comrades of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) to New York friends and allies, so they could share their brilliant stories of building a powerful base of the world’s most marginalized workers at the forefront of tackling the intertwined crises of climate, waste and poverty, on the ground and in community. At JTA we believe that the collective vision and self-determination of workers and communities most harmed, is key to understanding how we navigate the storms, floods, fires and droughts coming our way, and we are both honored and inspired to be serving alongside these frontline solutionaries.

International waste picker leaders with IAWP visit Sure We Can – a recycling depot run by NYC binners.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan

3. Finally, we came prepared to engage, confront and expose the cornucopia of false corporate schemes, such as “Nature Based Solutions,” “Carbon Capture and Storage,” “Nuclear Power,” “the diverse colors of hydrogen,” “waste to energy,” – working with other members of the Hoodwinked Collaborative to disseminate popular education materials, and nudging mainstream NGOs and funders to distance themselves from the multitude of neoliberal schemes and toxic techno-fixes being marketed throughout the week.

Laura Langer of the Hoodwinked Collaborative setting up tables to flag false solutions at climate week.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan

Outside of our work objectives for being there, the week did provide a good opportunity to see and catch up with many old friends and comrades, and learn that the grassroots struggles that make up the climate justice movement have deepened and broadened their efforts to navigate the contradictions of philanthro-capitalism and climate neoliberalism. More people than I had previously anticipated were actively challenging the false premise of climate solutions sponsored by those causing the harm.

We were encouraged to see veteran EJ leaders like Dr. Bob Bullard confronting the Carbon Capture and Storage scam – exposing multi-billion dollar public subsidies being handed to dirty energy industries, much to the chagrin of industry greenwash lobbyists present. Other friends laboriously packed dozens of boxes of Hoodwinked across the city, to table at events hosted by local EJ groups, such as the Climate Justice Lives Here festival, as well at a number of forums we discovered marketing false solutions.

Ananda with Tom Goldtooth of Indigenous Environmental Network and Darryl Jordan of Breathe Free Detroit.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan

Perhaps the most egregious of greenwash forums at climate week was the spotlight provided the Nuclear Power industry, which was present in full force, wheeling and dealing with bankers, tech companies and government shills to secure subsidies for reviving a number of old reactors across the country. Despite growing public awareness and opposition to this dangerous dinosaur and it’s bogus carbon claims, it’s apparent we’ll have our hands full, fighting these beasts in the year ahead.

However, while navigating all these contradictions and complexities associated with funding and promoting critical pathways to protecting the planet, we were reminded of what matters most – our deep love and gratitude for all the beautiful relations we forge while building powerful movements, relations that are the backbone holding up our shared principles of solidarity, mutual aid and collective care.

We were reminded that together, we got this!

Monica Wilson of Deep Seeded Strategies and Colette Pichon Battle of Taproot Earth.  Photo credit: Ananda Lee Tan