Climate Week in New York City, United States, is one of the world’s largest annual climate gatherings, taking place alongside the UN General Assembly and bringing together governments, civil society, business, philanthropy and international organizations. It has become an important moment for announcing commitments, shaping agendas, mobilizing finance and building partnerships ahead of COP. The 2026 edition took place from 20 to 27 September.
For RISE UP, Climate Week was a strategic opportunity to bring the ocean into wider climate discussions, strengthen relationships with key actors and advance priorities ahead of COP31. We were there to help make sure the ocean-climate nexus wasn’t an afterthought and to press for the priorities of coastal and frontline communities to be heard in the rooms where policy, finance and partnerships take shape.
During Climate Week, RISE UP for the Ocean (co)convened three events connecting communities to the ocean-climate agenda. Together, they reflect how our work moves from listening, to policy, to visibility: building collective action among communities, driving policy change through international processes and amplifying the voices too often left out of the room.
Monday 21 September 2026, 12:00 – 2:00 PM
Ocean commitments only matter if they translate into action, through stronger governance, coherent policies, accessible finance and implementation that delivers for people and the planet. At the start of Climate Week in New York City, we co-hosted our annual High-Level Dialogue with Peace Boat US, which focussed on moving ocean commitments into action across global climate and ocean spaces.
As 2030 approaches, there is an urgent need to keep ocean action politically relevant, inclusive and connected to implementation. The high-level segment included Ambassador Peter Thomson (UN Special Envoy for the Ocean), Vladimir Jares (UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea), Fiji’s Minister Tabuya and Jamaica’s Professor Dale Webber highlighting recent wins, upcoming opportunities and key challenges on the road to 2030 and beyond, from the Third World Ocean Assessment to Jamaica hosting the Our Ocean Conference in 2029.
The discussion then turned to what implementation needs to look like across protection, climate policy, governance, finance and community action, with Nikki Reisch (CIEL), Nathalie Rey (High Seas Alliance), Sérgio Carvalho (Oceano Azul), Dr. Naya Sena (BOSI) and Oshin Whyte (GAIA/BPA) each pressing for coherence between global ambition and local reality.
Youth speaker Shania Rambaran closed the panel by asking the room what each of us will do to ensure the next generation inherits more than commitments. RISE UP also celebrated signing MOUs with Blue Planet Alliance and Ocean & Climate Platform, strengthening relationships across the ocean-climate nexus.
Tuesday 22 September 2026, 9:00 – 10:30 AM
A just ocean energy transition is not only about moving away from offshore fossil fuels. It is also about who gets to shape what comes next. That was the focus of RISE UP for the Ocean’s session at Climate Week NYC, where speakers brought together different perspectives on what a just transition looks like in practice.
Upasana Khatri (CIEL) opened with why offshore fossil fuel expansion needs to stop, framing it through the Ocean Free of Fossil Fuels movement and the legal case for transition. Anna-Marie Laura turned to what we are transitioning towards, looking at ocean renewable energy and offshore wind, and the conditions needed for that growth to be responsible and equitable.
Dr. Will McClintock (UCSB) made the case for participatory marine spatial planning, with a key principle at its centre: listen before you plan. Marinez Scherer (COP) brought that principle into practice, sharing the Brazilian experience of engaging artisanal fisheries from the start of offshore wind development.
RISE UP shared community and small-scale fisher perspectives on a just ocean transition, alongside a screening of our short documentary, watch it here. Xiomara Acevedo (Fundación Barranquilla+20) closed with a climate justice lens on gender, territorial leadership and community participation, and why communities need the tools to shape transition pathways themselves.
Tuesday 22 September 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 PM
RISE UP and the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) brought together leaders, communicators, civil society organizations and community voices to ask what a just ocean-climate future looks like, and who is shaping it.
The event opened with the OA Alliance film Changing Waters: Time for Action on Ocean Acidification, filmed in Washington State, Colombia and Fiji. Jessie Turner and Mariama Fofana of the OA Alliance shared how the Alliance acts as a bridge, elevating community work and calling on governments to act. Dr. Paubert Tsimanaoraty Mahatante, Madagascar’s former Minister of Fisheries and the Blue Economy, gave special remarks before Natalie Fox and Khadija Stewart of RISE UP introduced the Ocean & Climate Cluster and launched the second issue of its digital magazine, Frontlines of the Blue Future.
A panel explored storytelling, representation and impact, with Ivory Vogt (Seastoria), Brian Torres Camargo (Búho Video Production), Yvette Vexta, Jessie Davie (Maliasili) and Mariama Fofana (OAAlliance) speaking to community-led storytelling, documentary filmmaking, art and strategic communications.
The event closed with an interactive discussion and three shared takeaways: storytelling for action must reflect lived realities happening now; creativity should be nurtured and shared beyond the NGO and scientific world; and communications need a clear hook to help governments grasp the urgency of the ocean-climate crisis and change our future.
Climate Week NYC was one step on the road to UNFCCC COP31 in Antalya, where RISE UP’s focus remains on keeping the ocean, and the coastal and frontline communities who depend on it, at the heart of climate action. Read more about our work on the ocean and climate nexus and on the ocean on the road to COP31.
📩 To follow our work towards COP31, sign up for The Navigator, RISE UP’s monthly newsletter. To follow up with the team on any of these sessions, email info@riseupfortheocean.org.
