Climate Group CEO talks momentum in the face of obstacles

In today’s special episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we sit down on the sidelines of Climate Week NYC for an interview with Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson. Climate Group is the nonprofit that organizes Climate Week NYC in coordination with the UN General Assembly and the City of New York. Helen points to momentum at Climate Week in 2025, with more than 1,000 events taking place across the city compared to 900 the previous year. “We’re seeing companies continuing to move forward,” Helen says. “A lot of these are global businesses ... so what’s happening in the US is a part of that, but it’s not the whole story.” Helen says that Climate Week discussions this year are focusing more on practical solutions and the “nitty-gritty” of implementation. And she highlights the need for collective action and collaboration to effectively address climate change. “For the systemic shift we need in order to solve this, we need to start to see sectors coming together,” Helen tells us. Listen to our coverage from Climate Week NYC 2025: Kicking off Climate Week NYC in a fragmented global landscape | S&P Global Climate Week, meet Fashion Week Water, water everywhere in Climate Week NYC conversations We'll be back with podcast interviews from Climate Week NYC throughout the week — including our coverage from The Nest Climate Campus, where the All Things Sustainable podcast is an official media partner. This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1 and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global. Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global DISCLAIMER By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. Any unauthorized use, facilitation or encouragement of a third party’s unauthorized use (including without limitation copy, distribution, transmission or modification, use as part of generative artificial intelligence or for training any artificial intelligence models) of this Podcast or any related information is not permitted without S&P Global’s prior consent subject to appropriate licensing and shall be deemed an infringement, violation, breach or contravention of the rights of S&P Global or any applicable third-party (including any copyright, trademark, patent, rights of privacy or publicity or any other proprietary rights). This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.