Penn at New York City Climate Week – September 2026

Thursday, September 17

• 5:30 PM – 6:45 PM: The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy will award the Carnot Prize,
  recognizing distinguished contributions to energy policy, to Former Secretary of State and Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry. (Hosted at Penn’s Philadelphia campus.)

Friday, September 18 

• 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM: Perry World House and Penn Climate are cohosting a conference on ‘Climate Leadership and Health.’ It brings together world leaders, policy experts, and academics working at the vital intersection of climate science, urban design, and public health to discuss how to transition global climate-health governance from reactive crisis management to collective readiness. Virtual or in-person at Perry World House (on Penn’s Philadelphia campus.)

  Keynote – 9:30 AM -10:30 AM – H.E. Aminath Shauna, former Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology of the Maldives

  Panel – 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM – One Health & Integrated Disease Surveillance

  Panel – 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Built Environment — Urban Design, Heat Mitigation & Infrastructure

Sunday, September 20

• 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM: PCSSM, Colorado University, Boulder, and HipHop Caucus are hosting a Youth Climate Comedy Workshop & Showcase Competition at Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus, with a workshop with students from 12-4 and the showcase, open to the public, from 5-6. 

Tuesday, September 22 

• 10:00 AM – 12 PM: Penn IUR is hosting the plenary meeting of the SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance at Milbank LLC. 

• 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM: PCSSM and the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder is hosting an event, co-funded by Penn Climate, entitled “Breaking the Ice Before it Melts: Effective Climate Communication” at the Penn Club. The panel discussion event will focus on climate communication pathways to action, with panelists Bill Nye (The Science Guy), Chuck Nice (cohost of “Star Talk” with Neil DeGrasse Tyson), and Asher Jay (National Geographic Explorer), and moderated by climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann (Presidential Distinguished, Director of PCSSM). The panelists will share their experience and expertise about their work as science communicators. The discussion will be followed by a networking hour. 

• 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: The Penn Climate-Agriculture Exchange (a joint venture by Penn Climate and the Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund) is hosting an event entitled “Powering Agriculture: Financing Distributed Renewable Energy in Emerging Markets”, co-convened with AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. The event will be held at the Penn Club and feature a keynote by Ambassador Ali Mohamed, Special Climate Envoy for Kenya, followed by a small roundtable discussion focusing on financing electrification efforts in alignment with agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Those in attendance will be policymakers, NGO leaders, and government officials. 

• 5:00 PM-8:00 PM: Penn Climate, along with 11 Penn partners, is hosting a plenary-style event at the Penn Club entitled “The New Investment Map: Competitiveness, Climate Resilience, and the Future of Clean Energy Investment”. Vice Provost Sanya Carley will open the event, followed by a keynote address by Rachel Kyte, Special Climate Envoy for the United Kingdom. This will lead into a panel discussion moderated by Witold Henisz, Vice Dean of Wharton Impact, and panelists will be leaders from government, international organizations, academia, private equity, and green energy. Heather Boushey of the Kleinman Center will give the closing remarks, and the event will be followed by a reception. Those in attendance will be leaders from academia, U.S. and foreign government officials, private equity leaders, city and state officials and policymakers, and green energy leaders. 

Wednesday, September 23 

• 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Perry World House, in partnership with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Penn Institute for Urban Research are hosting a closed-door discussion entitled “Trade and Domestic Revenue Impacts of the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels” at the Penn Club. Held under Chatham House Rules, this invitation-only lunchtime discussion explores the full economic ramifications, trade dynamics, and domestic revenue mobilization impacts of transitioning away from fossil fuels, building on the April 2026 Santa Marta Conference on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF). 

• 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Perry World House is hosting an event entitled “Climate Leadership and Health: Bridging Global Diplomacy and Planetary Health Realities” at the Penn Club. Held during New York Climate Week on the sidelines of UNGA, this discussion explores the structural gap between global climate diplomacy and public health realities, focusing on three core priorities: operationalizing an integrated One Health surveillance system, developing climate-resilient built environments, and driving youth-led action to protect frontline states from cascading climate shocks. This event builds on the climate-health event held at Penn the previous week. 

Thursday, September 24 

• 11:30 AM – 1:00PM: The United Nations Environment Programme (Climate Change Division and Finance Initiative) in partnership with the Government of Québec, Penn IUR and Penn Climate, is hosting Business Risks and Opportunities in a World Beyond 1.5, A Dialogue between scientists and business professionals. In a post-1.5°C world, the challenge is how to limit peak warming, shorten the duration of overshoot, manage escalating climate risks and impacts, and ultimately return temperatures to 1.5°C. For businesses and financial institutions, this changing risk landscape has implications for investment, infrastructure, supply chains, operations and long-term strategic planning. Decisions taken today can either increase exposure to future climate risks or help build resilience, reduce emissions and preserve options in an increasingly uncertain climate. Drawing on the findings of UNEP’s Overshoot Spotlight Report (released Sept 2), the dialogue will: 

• • Explore what an overshoot pathway means for business and investment decisions; 

• • Discuss how escalating and changing climate risks may affect corporate strategy, assets, supply chains and financial resilience; and 

• • Identify how business leaders and investors can contribute to limiting peak warming while strengthening adaptation and resilience over the longer term 

Friday, September 25 

• 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Penn Climate are co-hosting an event in the Kleinman Forum entitled “The Road from Belém to Antalya: Reflections on Brazil’s COP Presidency and the Path Ahead,” with Pedro Brancante, Brazilian diplomat and Special Advisor to the COP30 Presidency. The discussion will be moderated by Sanya Carley, Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center and Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action. In this talk, Pedro Brancante will offer an inside view of Brazil’s COP leadership and of the elaboration of the COP30 Presidency Roadmap for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels — a voluntary, science-based effort to translate the Global Stocktake consensus into implementation, covering systemic risks, the demand and supply sides of the transition, and its economic and financial dimensions. Drawing on the process of engaging governments, international organizations, academia, and civil society, he will reflect on the road traveled from Belém and what to expect ahead of COP31 in Antalya. (Hosted at Penn’s Philadelphia campus.)