First DC Climate Week Underway

This week Washington DC hosts the first ever DC Climate Week. 3,500 people are expected to attend more than 140 free or low-cost events planned throughout the week, which were organized by a team of 200 dedicated volunteers and partners.

The Monday kickoff day was hosted by the Bloomberg Center at Johns Hopkins University. C’pher Gresham in his opening speech explained that after the DC Climate Week idea was born, it seemed impossible to organize. Then, for every task someone raised their hand, the idea got louder and stronger and became real.

“DC Climate Week began as a vision from local organizers who believed in the power of community to build resilience and inspire hope. Co-organizing this initiative has been a deeply meaningful way for me to step up and create the platform our local community was seeking—a space where ideas turn into action,” said Vid Mićević, co-organizer of the DC Climate Week.

Sir Andrew Steer, a Professor of Practice at Georgetown University and London School of Economics, delivered a keynote, explaining that the climate movement desperately needs a better narrative, to center on humans, and to adopt a situation room mentality. Bold, smart action on climate change, in his words, would lower risk, promote new technologies, spur more investment and jobs, result in a cleaner environment and healthier children. The climate movement has a compelling story to tell, but it’s not good at telling it. Like a dog chasing a bus which is driving away, the dog cannot catch up. Sir Steer urged the audience that we cannot keep doing more of the same but need to change our behavior to catch up with the speeding bus. Perhaps the dog should take an electric taxi to catch up. For too long, environmentalism was focused on stopping bad things, such as pollution. He urged that the climate movement needs to start doing a lot of “good things,” building, growing, acting, rather than simply reacting. Pragmatic solutions need to be on the table to support transitions needed in as many as 50 sectors in the society.

International community has lost its way dealing with climate challenges. In Sir Steer’s words, Paris Agreement is not a failure; it just cannot deliver the results fast enough, since it requires all countries to agree on what’s feasible. Instead, he advocated for a pluri-lateral approach with around 40 major players involved, not only including governments but also other stakeholders.

The story of energy transitions is both a miracle and a disaster. It’s a miracle that solar panel prices fell by 99.8% since Jimmy Carter installed solar on the roof of the White House. This is true for many other technologies. Yet, it’s a disaster that we are blowing past 1.5C warming. Sir Steer urged the participants to embrace both the facts of hope and the despair, encouraging them to lean on the power of civil society.

Another highlight of the day was Bill Nye, the Science Guy. With his characteristic wit, he declared that so far, the most impressive thing we have done for climate in DC is installing bike lanes, but when it comes to energy, we need “Everything all at once,” including nuclear and geothermal. Julia De la Cruz, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute’s alumna, reflected on his speech: “I was drawn to DC climate week to feel heartened during a decidedly disheartening time. This first day was focused on innovation and technology but surprise guest speaker, Bill Nye’s declamation centered on the importance of politics and PR, encouraging us: ‘As screwed up as things are, this is it, get excited, and get involved politically.'” Bill Nye was interviewed on stage by Kiran Batraju, CEO of Arcadia and venture investor, who received a DMV Climate Star Award from DC Climate Week.

The attendees of the Innovation Day at the Bloomberg Center featured many expert speakers. “Panelists representing innovative U.S. start-ups Bellweather (a Google X moonshot), NearStar Fusion and Phoenix Tailings shared transformative advancements underway via AI-powered disaster forecasting and response, nuclear fusion to meet the surging demand for clean, reliable power, and extraction of rare earth metals from mining waste to create domestic supply chains for critical minerals,” explained Hadia Sheerazi, Manager at Rocky Mountain Institute who moderated the opening panel.

DC Climate Week offers an event for everyone. For example, on Tuesday, there is a community-building and networking event that explores the future of “Chinese content” in the U.S. climate initiative. The organizers of that event stressed that “we certainly want more collaborations instead of competition, while there is a lot of ‘we’ and ‘they’ mentality in the clean energy space today.”

On Wednesday, the Climate Week is hosting The National Jobs Fair, with over 2,000 extremely qualified professionals registered. Many of them displaced from their jobs prematurely, looking to connect with employers hiring for over 500 high-impact jobs. “As a former federal worker impacted by the layoffs, I know how important it is for us to create community,” said Zainab Mirza of Clean Energy for America and organizer of the National Job Fair. She stressed that the job fair is a testament to DC Climate Week’s motto “for the people, by the people.”

There are also external event organizers that have partnered with the DC Climate Week. On Thursday, Georgetown University hosts the 28th Annual Conference of the National Chapter of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics, which focuses on abundance, security and sustainability. The brightest minds in energy economics and policy will be in attendance.

For those craving movement, DC Climate Week invites the attendee to a DC Mobility Innovation walking tour of DC, a “Power for All” Fun Run, a Forest Bathing Walk, site visits to sustainable buildings, and even a tour of one of DC dentists’ eco-friendly practice. Climate Week also offers a variety of networking events, entrepreneurship and startup meetups, storytelling workshops, and of course, art. With its diverse programming and strong community support, this inaugural DC Climate Week is positioned to become an annual tradition for years to come.