Trump agenda fuels calls to move annual Climate Week from New York to Montreal

US President Donald Trump’s anti-environment and protectionist agenda could chase one of the world’s biggest climate events north to Canada.

Discussion is growing in global climate circles around moving Climate Week NYC from its historic home in New York City to Montreal, Que., as concerns mount about the chilling effect the US government could have on engagement with international delegates. 

Catherine McKenna, a former Canadian environment and climate change minister and founder of Climate and Nature Solutions, an advisory consultancy, said that the idea had been sparked by “climate advocates/experts [who] don’t want to go to the US because of border concerns — and general clampdown on discussing climate in the US.”

Since Donald Trump — who has called climate change a “scam” — made his return to the White House, his government has made a singular effort to stymie climate action and clean energy, newly withdrawing the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement, defunding research on global heating, rescinding cornerstone emissions-reduction regulations, and gutting government agencies charged with climate-related missions. 

The US president’s attacks on immigrants and travellers to the country – including several high-profile cases of international visitors being detained by Customs and Border Protection officers despite having relevant visas or passports – have led to a major drop-off in inbound traffic. In Canada, a Leger poll found that a majority of Canadians “no longer feel welcome and/or safe” travelling to the US.

“I have been meeting with a lot of folks from the private sector around the world who are really engaged in the climate discussion, and two things are clear: one, they are very concerned about climate activists being targeted at the US border, being told to take burner phones, worrying about comments [critical of the US government] they may have made on social media and so on,” McKenna told Canada’s National Observer.

“And two, you have the fact that the Trump administration has already rolled back 140 environmental rules and is attacking the charitable status of climate organizations et cetera. The question becomes: can we even discuss climate in a meaningful way [at New York Climate Week]? Can you discuss climate without using the term?

McKenna said there was “a lot of support” for the idea of transplanting Climate Week to Montreal. “A lot of people have reached out. The reality is it’s not going to happen this September” when the event is currently scheduled. “But in a year’s time, it could be very different,” she said. 

‘Absolutely taking place in New York’

Climate Week NYC was first held in 2009 and has grown to be among the most important climate action gatherings globally. It is timed to run alongside the United Nations General Assembly, which also takes place in New York, meaning international heads of state and senior governmental figures can more easily attend.

Angela Barranco, executive director in North America for the event’s convener, the London, UK-headquartered Climate Group, told Canada’s National Observer Climate Week would “absolutely be taking place in New York City” this autumn, noting that in 2023 over 900 events were included in the program in what was “a record-breaking year.”

She poured cold water on the idea that the event could be transplanted to Montreal. “Interest in Climate Week NYC has never been higher. The determination and commitment from the business, government, and philanthropic communities to come together in the US on climate change is clear to see,” she said.

Climate Week NYC has become an epicentre for international climate action since its launch 15 years ago with government figures including John Podesta, the former US President’s senior advisor for international climate policy, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, and Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, having attended past iterations of the event. 

Caroline Brouillette, executive director of the Climate Action Network, a climate advocacy group, sees the argument for moving Climate Week to Montreal — not least “to protect activists from fascist policing tactics such as we are seeing in the US.” But she highlights that the timing of the event alongside the UN could be a show-stopper.

“Having those international decision-makers on climate policy and politics [at Climate Week] is key,” she said, noting it would be “a challenge” to lose that connection to the UN climate action network. 

“But there is certainly a level of North American climate diplomacy that could be moved out of the US and Montreal, for many reasons, would be a great idea,” Brouillette added.

Business executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Virgin chief Richard Branson have also been among the high-profile speakers to take part in past years. Google, McKinsey Sustainability, and the Youth Climate Justice Fund are all past event sponsors. 

Last year saw more than 100,000 attendees from over 100 countries gather in New York to participate in some of the more than 600 climate action events platformed by Climate Week. “Millions of others” were reached through “partnerships with museums, schools, public art exhibitions and other activations,” a Climate Group spokesperson said.