A reflective perspective to rebrand NYCW

Planetary Ecosystems Week

A Social Ecology Accountability and Responsibility Collective Action

New York Planetary Ecosystems Week (NY PEW) is a global event designed to tackle not just climate change but the broader social-ecological crises that threaten humans and other life on Earth. Unlike traditional climate weeks, which focus mainly on carbon emissions, NY PEW takes a more holistic view by integrating nature-based solutions (i.e., Indigenous ecology engineering), Indigenous leadership, partnership design, equitable finance, and widened technological perspectives. It seeks to address all aspects of planetary health, including the nine planetary boundaries, gender, and shareholdership, making it a more comprehensive and inclusive platform for global ecological governance. By focusing on the interconnectedness of human societies and ecosystems, NY PEW aims to ensure that solutions are not only technological but rooted in justice, regeneration, and social ecology accountability and responsibility for a sustainable and resilient future.

This shift is critical as we move from narrowly focusing on climate goals often designed by one side of the aisle to fostering planetary ecosystems of well-being. This shift requires the systems orchestration of Indigenous scholarship, frontline contextual and systems thinking, coherent perspectives of cultural and social politics, meaningful participation of non-industrialized societies, and conscious and cautious actions for system changes across all ecological and social systems.

7 + themes

Seven plus key themes emerged from the 2024 New York Climate Week that underscore the direction and urgency of the Planetary Ecosystems movement. These themes arise from multilateral conversations, panels, discussions, and sensemaking for a path forward with a transparent willingness to accountability and responsibility based on Indigenous technology of story-sharing to keep our collective action in check and balance, aiming to reduce stagnation at NYPEW gatherings.

The themes can be strategically leveraged to strengthen transparency and trust in social-ecological responses, fostering collective action to mitigate CO2 emissions, protect biodiversity, and enhance resilience to climate change.

The seven + themes:

Knowledge Production

Knowledge Production: Ground Zero for Decolonial Action: Knowledge production is the central departure point for meaningful climate action and planetary stewardship. Decentralized, decolonial, and anti-colonial knowledge hubs allow Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities to produce, govern, and control their data, knowledge, and innovations. These hubs challenge colonial structures that have historically marginalized non-Western forms of knowledge.

• Who must be at the table to ensure that community engagement and capacity building elevate Indigenous and local epistemologies to the forefront? Knowledge hubs ensure epistemic justice and foster a more holistic understanding of the planet's ecological systems, creating responsible social ecology stewardship.

Acceleration of the Transition to a Bioculture Economy

Acceleration of the Transition to a Bioculture Economy (Net-Zero Economy): This year focused on rapidly scaling solutions to decarbonize the economy, with industries like construction, energy, and transportation at the forefront. Embedding net-zero strategies across sectors can foster trust by showing tangible, cross-industry collaboration to address emissions.

• Who needs to be added to the next NY Planetary Ecosystems Week 2025 discussion table? An invitation for collective design to bring silence/silo actors.

Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity Protection

Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity Protection: A significant portion of discussions centered on nature-positive solutions like mangrove restoration and regenerative agriculture. Investment and community involvement in nature-based projects are needed to enhance trust, especially in communities directly affected by climate change and biodiversity loss. Indigenous Ecology Engineering and Biocultural Methods of Genetic Agrobiodiversity and Biodiversity Protection Scholarships remain significantly undermined and/or overlooked under the branding of NBS.

• How do we use the power of story-sharing to verify these projects’ function at the local context and bioregional level in the next NY Planetary Ecosystems Week 2025?

Climate Finance and Equity

Climate Finance and Equity: Climate financing remains a large gap, with continued efforts to meet the $100 billion annual commitment. Greater financial transparency and equitable distribution, particularly in non-industrialized regions and Indigenous communities, are critical for trust and resiliency.

• How do we reconcile with Indigenous communities’ sovereignty so that they can exercise negotiation power, enter into treaty agreements with external entities directly, and allow Local Communities meaningful participation as partners?

Resilience and Adaptation

Resilience and Adaptation: Emphasizing resilience, especially in informal settlements and low-income communities, is essential. Trust can be built by ensuring that adaptation efforts are inclusive and driven by the contextual and systems needs of the local and bioregional people and communities.

• How can non-commercial access and benefit-sharing, i.e., administrative, legal, technological, and social capital support, shift the status quo narrative of “beneficiaries” and “stakeholders” to rightsholders and partners?

Decarbonization of Energy Systems

Decarbonization of Energy Systems: Discussions about renewable energy highlighted the need to triple global renewable capacity by 2030 and 2050. We are yet to design transparent roadmaps showing progress and challenges in transitioning energy systems, and these roadmaps will be key to maintaining trust in the broader decarbonization efforts that are de/scalable for non-industrialized regions.

• How do we ensure that the ‘true value of the land’ is accounted for in this emission reduction effort across the supply chain by complying with the Indigenous community’s treaty agreements, Local Communities Partnership, and FPIC lifecycle?

Climate Technology and Innovation

Climate Technology and Innovation: Innovations in climate technology were highlighted as pivotal for achieving the 1.5°C target, which seems less likely to be achieved by 2030. There is a high need to design roadmaps to ensure equitable access and benefit-sharing of these technologies and openly communicate their efficacy to help build trust among rightsholders, shareholders, and stakeholders.

• Who needs to be at the development table to ensure climate Tech innovations do not replace local systems but complement and amplify them and safeguard Data sovereignty that Indigenous communities govern and control the data related to their lands, ecosystems, and resources?
• By grounding tech in data sovereignty and local contexts and sharing authorship with knowledge hubs, we avoid techno-solutionism and ensure that data is not commodified or extracted without an FPIC lifecycle but is used for informed decision-making (Data systems must be transparent and accountable) and create solutions that respect and comply with cultural values and data systems serving as tools for community-driven ecological governance rather than external exploitation while achieving planetary health.

Green Workforce and Just Transition

Green Workforce and Just Transition: The emphasis was on creating a green economy that addresses economic, racial, and gender disparities while providing green jobs was emphasized. Transparent policies that ensure these transitions are just and inclusive will foster long-term trust in the process.

• Who was missing at this year’s NYCW to bring it home from discourse to accountable actions at the local and bioregional levels? For frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples, these green jobs might be limited to access due to capacity building and/or categorization under “beneficiaries” or “stakeholders.”

Collective agency for checks and balances

By addressing these themes with transparency, social ecology systems can create platforms for shared responsibility, ensuring that rightsholders, shareholders, and stakeholders, from governments to local communities, are aligned in their efforts to reduce emissions, protect ecosystems, and build resilience against climate change and social ecology crises. Engaging communities in these efforts, especially through knowledge production, data sovereignty, shareholdership, sovereignty, and shared decision-making frameworks, will further support trust and equitable collective action.