That’s where the recent trend toward closed-door roundtables came into its own, says Kate Wylie, chief sustainability officer at Chanel. “One thing that stood out to me was how honest and pragmatic the [closed-door] conversations about implementation were. They felt very open and solutions focused. People were willing to acknowledge what is working, where progress has been harder than expected, and how collaboration can help overcome barriers and accelerate change. There was a palpable sense of determination to not lose momentum.”
This helped push talking points beyond the usual niceties into more concrete territory, adds Clare Woodford, VP of impact and sustainability at end-to-end apparel manufacturing and textile innovation company Alpine Group. “Brands and suppliers were able to speak candidly about their respective challenges: what will a proposed change cost? How long will it take? What would need to change in the way products are designed, bought, or made? Some ideas sound convincing on-stage, but working through the realities across the value chain is where they begin to become possible. Those conversations are what make climate week worth attending for me.”
Nature is increasingly non-partisan
One of the breakout stars of New York Climate Week this year was Tibetan American venture capitalist Tenzin Seldon, who took to the stage at the Nat Gala on Sunday night to introduce her concept of Gross Domestic Regeneration (GDR), designed to replace Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a new system that acknowledges and values nature and its resources. “The world protects what it prices, and it abandons what we leave off the balance sheet,” Seldon told attendees. A few days earlier, her firm, Pulse Fund, announced a $63 million fundraise, which it will channel into early-stage climate companies, spanning the energy transition, climate infrastructure, food and agriculture, and mobility.
“GDR names the accounting error whereby a forest that took a thousand years to grow registers on a balance sheet only once it’s cut down,” adds Rycroft. “Not properly valuing nature, and not moving to a less extractive future, is coming at a great cost to life and ledger.”
