Climate Week NYC: City Dialogue on Embedded Climate Justice

Read the Event Summary Here

This hybrid event was a forum for representatives from New York City and the German city of Dortmund to speak on environmental initiatives and policies within their cities that include a justice aspect. The cities detailed what problem the policy was trying to solve, what challenges it had to overcome and address, and what useful takeaways can benefit other cities tackling similar policy issues. 

Taking place both in person and online at this year's Climate Week NYC, the event welcomed short presentations from policy practitioners  followed by a discussion round focusing on the transferability of climate justice solutions. 

The sharing of best practices can help overcome learning curves and deliver impact on a higher level, as highlighted by the tri-city dialogue at the TCB Conference. Climate policy, and especially city level climate policy, must include a social dimension to ensure uptake, policy acceptance, and to guarantee that the energy transitions work for all. 

Agenda

Welcoming Words

• Paul Cronjaeger, Policy Officer, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (KC1 Division for International Cooperation on Climate and Energy, Implementing Initiatives)
• Dennis Tänzler, Director and Head of Climate Policy, adelphi and the Transatlantic Climate Bridge Program Office

Speakers

• Fabian Zeuch, Coordinator Global Diplomacy, City of Dortmund
• Daphne Lundi, Deputy Director for Living Streets and Public Spaces at the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice 

Moderator

• Tobias Bernstein, Co-lead of the Translantic Climate Bridge Program Office and Consultant at adelphi

Daphne Lundi Deputy Director at NYCs Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice presented the NYC's Cool Neighborhoods program, a set of strategies and programs with almost $100M worth of investments that increased the City's tree canopy, developed climate risk training programs for community partners, and expanded cool roofs and other building scale investments to the City's most vulnerable to extreme heat. The investments are guided by the Heat Vulnerability Index, a tool grounded in climate and racial justice that identifies the communities most at risk to extreme heat. 

Fabian Zeuch, Global Diplomacy Coordinator for the German City of Dortmund discussed the city's climate and food security program aimed at achieving climate compatible agricultural solutions whilst simultaneously ensuring just nutrional access to all citizens of the city. 

Welcoming words were delivered by Paul Cronjaeger from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, on their international policy work supporting cities in their (just) climate transitions.