UCS at NYC Climate Week 2025

Make Billionaires Pay March
12 p.m., Park Ave. and 50th Street
Make Billionaires Pay is part of a global week of action for climate justice. UCS will have staff and supporters marching with us. We're also sending a clear message to the oil & gas industry via ads throughout NYC.

5 p.m., Regal Essex Crossing Cinema 11 “The White House Effect” Film Screening and Discussion

A documentary from directors Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk that focuses on pivotal years in the George H.W. Bush administration when the country was waking up to the reality of global warming and Bush had pledged to use “the White House effect” to tackle it. In the film, Bush finds himself increasingly caught between his chief of staff John Sununu and industry power brokers on one side and his Environmental Protection Agency Chief Bill Reilly and climatologists on the other. As the world prepares for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Bush faces mounting pressure to make a decision that will change the course of history—culminating with the U.S. undermining a global agreement to set hard limits on emissions, setting the stage for the increasingly hot, dangerous, and polarized future we all now face. Discussion to follow the film screening.

Speakers:

• Dr. Gretchen T. Goldman, president and CEO, UCS
• Kristen Schlott, executive producer, “The White House Effect”
• William K. Reilly, former EPA administrator
• Moderator: Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter, The Guardian

Solutions Dialogue on Information Integrity

2 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Reading Room, Dag Hammarskjöld Library at U.N. Headquarters

The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, launched by Brazil, the U.N. and UNESCO, is a first-of-its-kind multilateral collaboration among states, civil society groups, academia and international organizations. Thanks to efforts undertaken by the Initiative, climate information integrity will be included in the Action Agenda for the first time at COP30 and is one of the key objectives of the conference. This event aims to increase understanding, garner support and accelerate action to implement information integrity initiatives in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

UCS Speakers:

• Kate Cell, senior climate campaign manager at UCS

Strengthening Information Integrity for Climate Action

3 p.m.-3:20 p.m., U.N. Media Zone

Deliberate and coordinated disinformation campaigns are hindering global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists and activists. This session will cover the evolution of these efforts and their impact on climate action. Panelists and experts will also discuss the tools and approaches to identify and counter these tactics.

Speakers:

• Charlotte Scaddan, U.N. senior adviser on information integrity
• João Brant, government of Brazil
• Kate Cell, senior campaign manager, UCS
• Moderator: Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist

Danger Season and Decades of Deceit: Why We Must Hold the Fossil Fuel Industry Accountable

1 p.m.-2 p.m. EDT, virtual

Join UCS and speakers from the Center for Climate Integrity, Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub, and Lekeh Development Foundation (Nigeria) for a virtual discussion on a critical strategy in the fight for climate justice and a livable planet: holding the fossil fuel industry accountable.

Speakers:

• Nbani Friday Barilule, director and founder, Lekeh Development Foundation, Niger Delta, Nigeria
• Dr. Juan Declet-Barreto, bilingual senior social scientist for climate vulnerability, UCS
• Dr. Delta Merner, associate director, climate accountability campaign, UCS
• Roishetta Sibley Ozane, founder, director and CEO, Vessel Project of Louisiana; co-director, Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub
• Corey Riday-White, managing attorney, Center for Climate Integrity
• Moderator: Kathy Mulvey, director, climate accountability campaign, UCS