Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and the New York Cli­mate Exchange Announce Cli­mate Week NYC 2026 on Gov­er­nors Island

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The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and The New York Cli­mate Exchange have unveiled the line­up for Cli­mate Week 2026 pro­gram­ming set for Sep­tem­ber 20 – 27, 2026, high­light­ing the Island’s grow­ing role at the fore­front of cli­mate inno­va­tion in New York City. This year’s events include dis­cus­sions, work­shops, per­for­mances, cli­mate tech demon­stra­tions, guid­ed tours, art exhi­bi­tions, a cli­mate pep ral­ly, and more pro­grams explor­ing the inter­sec­tions between sci­ence, nature, tech, pol­i­cy, advo­ca­cy, art, and community. 

Cli­mate Week is a shin­ing exam­ple of what we’re grow­ing here on Gov­er­nors Island — an inno­va­tion des­ti­na­tion where work, edu­ca­tion, research, cre­ativ­i­ty, and play all hap­pen side by side,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. This year, we’re proud to join with The New York Cli­mate Exchange and all of our part­ners to present pro­gram­ming that shows the many ways cli­mate issues touch all our lives and fos­ters con­nec­tion across both dis­ci­plines and communities.”

This week is a pre­view of what’s com­ing: lead­ers from busi­ness, gov­ern­ment, acad­e­mia, and com­mu­ni­ties in the same room, build­ing the con­nec­tions and part­ner­ships that will define The New York Cli­mate Exchange on Gov­er­nors Island for decades to come,” said M. San­jayan, CEO of The Exchange. Cli­mate Week shows what’s pos­si­ble when peo­ple con­vene with pur­pose — our cam­pus on Gov­er­nors Island will make that pos­si­ble every day, not just one week a year.”

Orga­nized each year by the Cli­mate Group, Cli­mate Week NYC runs Sep­tem­ber 20 – 27, 2026, and is the largest annu­al cli­mate event of its kind. Gov­er­nors Island is at the fore­front of research­ing and demon­strat­ing solu­tions that can be scaled glob­al­ly, mak­ing it a nat­ur­al set­ting for the many events tak­ing place dur­ing Cli­mate Week. Its unique water­front envi­ron­ment com­ple­ments an award-win­ning park engi­neered for cli­mate change; near­ly one mil­lion annu­al vis­i­tors; oppor­tu­ni­ties for edu­ca­tion, research, and pilot­ing; pub­lic art­works engag­ing with cli­mate issues; and a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of edu­ca­tion­al, non­prof­it, and com­mer­cial ten­ants focused on cli­mate solu­tions — includ­ing Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, NYU Gal­latin Wet­Lab, and the soon-to-open But­ter­milk Labs.

The Trust and the New York City Mayor’s Office have devel­oped a vision to cre­ate the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions, an ini­tia­tive on Gov­er­nors Island to accel­er­ate cli­mate solu­tions for cities. In April 2023, The New York Cli­mate Exchange, led by Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty and a con­sor­tium of part­ners, was select­ed as the initiative’s anchor insti­tu­tion fol­low­ing a two-year com­pet­i­tive process. The Exchange will devel­op a $700-mil­lion cam­pus on the Island focused on advanc­ing cli­mate solu­tions and prepar­ing New York­ers for green jobs, expect­ed to open in 2029

Cli­mate Week NYC 2026 events on Gov­er­nors Island are orga­nized by the Trust, the Island’s com­mu­ni­ty of part­ners and ten­ants, and The Exchange and its core part­ners. A full sched­ule of events and pre­sent­ing orga­ni­za­tions can be found below and online at www​.gov​is​land​.org/​c​l​i​m​a​t​e​-week.

Gov­er­nors Island is open dai­ly year-round and is acces­si­ble by fer­ry from Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn. For fer­ry sched­ules, oper­at­ing hours, things to do, and oth­er vis­i­tor infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island’s Cli­mate pro­grams are sup­port­ed by Ama­zon, Con Edi­son, New York Com­mu­ni­ty Trust, and Anonymous.

The Gov­er­nors Island 2026 sea­son is gen­er­ous­ly sup­port­ed by the Black­stone Char­i­ta­ble Foun­da­tion, Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies, Don­ald A. Pels Char­i­ta­ble Trust, and Riv­ian Foundation.

Cli­mate Week NYC on Gov­er­nors Island Schedule

Cli­mate Tech Crawl, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island

Ongo­ing, dig­i­tal via Bloomberg Connects

Down­load the free Bloomberg Con­nects app to access a self-guid­ed tour through Gov­er­nors Island’s cli­mate inno­va­tions — from resilien­cy mea­sures built into its land­scapes to the lat­est in cli­mate tech, to the future home of The New York Cli­mate Exchange.

Pre­vi­ous­ly, the Plan­et: A Cli­mate Week Open­ing Gathering

Sep­tem­ber 19, 11AM-5PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

A med­i­ta­tion, plas­tic upcy­cling, and cloth­ing upcy­cling work­shop with artist Juliana Cas­tane­da where par­tic­i­pants can give sec­ond-hand items a new life.

Eco Arts Festival

Sep­tem­ber 20, 11AM-4PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um x Arti­choke Dance Com­pa­ny, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

A day of eco-inspired per­for­mances, instal­la­tions, films and inter­ac­tive work­shops and activ­i­ties that are free and open to the public.

The Art of Change: An Open­ing Cer­e­mo­ny for Cli­mate Week NYC

Sep­tem­ber 21, 11AM-5PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um x The Artivist Net­work, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

A pub­lic and par­tic­i­pa­to­ry inter­ven­tion led by the Artivist Network’s Artivist-in-Res­i­dence” pro­gram that reimag­ines cli­mate jus­tice as an inter­sec­tion­al issue that requires the realign­ment of our rela­tion­ship with nature.

Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary Charette: Cre­ative Solu­tions to Advance New York’s Resilience Priorities

Sep­tem­ber 22, 9AM-12PM | New York Cli­mate Exchange x Water­front Alliance x HNTB, LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island

Build­ing on dis­cus­sions held at the 2026 Water­front Alliance Con­fer­ence, gov­ern­ment lead­ers, com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions, design­ers, engi­neers, researchers, and indus­try rep­re­sen­ta­tives will come togeth­er to devel­op action­able rec­om­men­da­tions for address­ing cli­mate chal­lenges fac­ing New York City and the sur­round­ing region.

Acti­vat­ing Data Across Urban Environments

Sep­tem­ber 22, 1 – 3:30PM | New York Cli­mate Exchange, LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island

A col­lab­o­ra­tive pro­gram that brings togeth­er the sci­en­tists, agen­cies, and com­mu­ni­ty part­ners gen­er­at­ing envi­ron­men­tal data across New York City that uses Gov­er­nors Island’s own envi­ron­men­tal sens­ing efforts as a work­ing case study, then opens into a broad­er con­ver­sa­tion about how dis­parate data streams across NYC can be coor­di­nat­ed, shared, and activated.

Cli­mate Solu­tions Showcase

Sep­tem­ber 23, 12 – 4PM | The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island

Extreme heat and chron­ic flood­ing have become a new nor­mal in New York City. On Gov­er­nors Island, nov­el adap­ta­tion solu­tions that New York­ers will depend on aren’t only con­cepts; they’re real­i­ty. From recy­clable flood bar­ri­ers to pas­sive cool­ing tech­nol­o­gy, the Trust’s Cli­mate Pilot­ing Pro­gram sup­ports more than two dozen inno­v­a­tive solu­tions that are paving the way for more resilient and sus­tain­able cities. Par­tic­i­pants will be able to see emerg­ing tech in action, hear the founders pitch, and con­nect with the dynam­ic cli­mate pilot­ing ecosys­tem on Gov­er­nors Island.

From the Farm to the City: Agri­cul­tur­al Enhanced Rock Weath­er­ing as a Cli­mate Solution

Sep­tem­ber 23, 1 – 3PM | NYU Gal­latin Wet­Lab, Nolan Park Build­ing 20

A ses­sion explor­ing enhanced rock weath­er­ing (ERW) as a Car­bon Diox­ide Removal (CDR) tech­nique fea­tur­ing an overview of the process, an inter­ac­tive demon­stra­tion, and dis­cus­sion and analysis.

Cli­mate Triv­ia & Hap­py Hour

Sep­tem­ber 23, 4 – 6PM | The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island x Green Apple Triv­ia, Taco Vista

Unwind with drinks, har­bor views, and tacos — all while putting your eco-knowl­edge to the test with cli­mate triv­ia in part­ner­ship with Green Apple Trivia.

Cli­mate Lead­ers Exchange

Sep­tem­ber 23 – 25 | New York Cli­mate Exchange

The Cli­mate Lead­ers Exchange launch event, Build­ing For­ward: Cities Advanc­ing Ener­gy Effi­cient Homes, is focused on urban lead­ers. This pro­gram brings togeth­er city staff and tech­ni­cal experts from across the coun­try to share strate­gies, exchange peer insights, and advance action­able solu­tions — in this case, res­i­den­tial ener­gy effi­cien­cy. Cities rep­re­sent­ed in this year’s Cli­mate Week event include Atlanta, Boston, Cleve­land, Colum­bus, Den­ver, Madi­son, New York City, Philadel­phia, Port­land, Raleigh, San Fran­cis­co, and Seattle.

Men­tal Health in a Dis­as­trous Cli­mate: Cat­alyz­ing Our Feel­ings to Mobi­lize Action for a Bet­ter Tomorrow

Sep­tem­ber 25, 11AM-1PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

A spir­it­ed con­ver­sa­tion about the ways the cli­mate cri­sis takes a toll on men­tal health, includ­ing dis­cus­sions on how to cope dur­ing tur­bu­lent times while build­ing con­nec­tion with each oth­er and the nat­ur­al world and let­ting our emo­tions lead us to take action.

Earth Mat­ter’s Sec­ond Bloom

Sep­tem­ber 25, 5:30 – 7:30PM | Earth Mat­ter NY, The Laven­der Field

A com­mu­ni­ty gath­er­ing with the Island’s offi­cial com­post­ing part­ner, open to all who are curi­ous about the role of com­post and soil in a cir­cu­lar economy.

Home­com­ing: For the Harbor

Sep­tem­ber 26, 10:30AM3:30PM | LMCC x The New York Cli­mate Exchange, LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island

A cli­mate pep ral­ly com­plete with artists, musi­cians, march­ing bands, cheer­lead­ers, and art-mak­ing work­shops, plus cli­mate sci­en­tists and envi­ron­men­tal advocates.

Meet the Cli­mate Inno­va­tors & Walk­ing Tour

Sep­tem­ber 26, 1 – 3:30PM | The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, Liggett Terrace

Sev­er­al of the Trust’s cli­mate pilot­ing projects will be show­cas­ing their prod­ucts at Liggett Ter­race, includ­ing Cir­cu­lar Econ­o­my Man­u­fac­tur­ing, PooPoof, Car­bon­CLAIR, Ther­moShade, True Flood Risk, Ten­so­ra Coastal, and Sun­phade. Stop by after grab­bing lunch from one of the Liggett Ter­race food ven­dors, and stick around for a free walk­ing tour at 2PM.

Cli­mate Week Tree Tour

Sep­tem­ber 26, 11:45AM | The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, Sois­sons Land­ing Wel­come Center

A walk­ing tour that spot­lights the role Gov­er­nors Island’s 3,500+ trees play in its cli­mate resilien­cy — stor­ing car­bon, reduc­ing urban heat, man­ag­ing stormwa­ter, and pro­vid­ing impor­tant habi­tat for wildlife.

Cli­mate Week Open Studios

Sep­tem­ber 26, 12 – 5PM | Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC), LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island 

LMCC invites the pub­lic into the work­spaces and cre­ative process­es of the 2026 Cohort of Arts Cen­ter Residents.

What’s in the Cards? A Cre­ative Cli­mate Tarot Experience

Sep­tem­ber 26, 2 – 4PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

Cli­mate change demands that we face the unknown. In this work­shop, par­tic­i­pants will cre­ate art inspired by nature and tarot while imag­in­ing solu­tions to face the future with resilience.

Plants Who Speak: Work­shop & Cer­e­mo­ny, Jime­na Vega & Sarah Walko

Sep­tem­ber 26, 2 – 4PM | Tai­wanese Amer­i­can Arts Coun­cil, Nolan Park Build­ing 17

Par­tic­i­pants will walk through Gov­er­nors Island, gath­er fall­en leaves and nat­ur­al mate­ri­als, and cre­ate botan­i­cal mono­types using plants as inspi­ra­tion. Through walk­ing, observ­ing, col­lect­ing, and cre­at­ing, par­tic­i­pants are invit­ed to slow down, lis­ten, and ask: What might plants tell us if we learn how to listen?

CAR­RY WATER: A Cli­mate Week Per­for­mance by Chin-Chih Yang

Sep­tem­ber 26, 4 – 6PM | Tai­wanese Amer­i­can Arts Coun­cil, Nolan Park Build­ing 17

The artist will car­ry and deliv­er water to arts orga­ni­za­tions through­out Nolan Park, reflect­ing on cli­mate change, envi­ron­men­tal respon­si­bil­i­ty, and our most essen­tial resource. Through car­ry­ing and shar­ing water, Yang trans­forms an every­day neces­si­ty into a ges­ture of con­nec­tion, com­mu­ni­ty, and envi­ron­men­tal awareness.

The Tree of Life Paint­ing Workshop

Sep­tem­ber 27, 1 – 2:30PM | Tai­wanese Amer­i­can Arts Coun­cil, Nolan Park Build­ing 17

The Tree of Life is a uni­ver­sal sym­bol found in mythol­o­gy, reli­gion, and phi­los­o­phy, con­nect­ing heav­en, Earth, the under­world, and all forms of life. In this work­shop, par­tic­i­pants will cre­ate their own Tree of Life with col­ors, forms, and details from their imaginations.

Right to Flight: A Pub­lic Per­for­mance & Par­tic­i­pa­to­ry Artwork

Sep­tem­ber 27, 1:30 – 4PM | Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um, Colonels Row Build­ing 406A

A par­tic­i­pa­to­ry pub­lic art­work and per­for­mance that responds to the hun­dreds of thou­sands of migra­to­ry birds killed each year through col­li­sions with New York City’s glass buildings.

Leslie Wayne: The Unin­tend­ed Blues

Fri­days-Sun­days, 12 – 5PM | Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC), LMC­C’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island

An exhi­bi­tion doc­u­ment­ing ris­ing sea lev­els through aer­i­al land­scape paint­ings of vul­ner­a­ble U.S. shore­lines and melt­ing ice­bergs in the Arc­tic Cir­cle. In these works, Wayne cap­tures the beau­ty of our nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment and ren­ders with graph­ic clar­i­ty one of our great­est exis­ten­tial threats.

SIL­VERS Exhi­bi­tion

Week­ends, 11 – 5PM | For­est for Trees Col­lec­tive, Nolan Park Build­ing 7B 

An exhi­bi­tion hon­or­ing matri­ar­chal lega­cies by hon­ors this matri­ar­chal lega­cy by cen­ter­ing the voic­es of women over fifty who are lead­ing envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice move­ments, stew­ard­ing land, and redefin­ing sus­tain­abil­i­ty through lived experience.

The Trust for Governors Island is the nonprofit corporation created by the City of New York that is responsible for the redevelopment and operation of 150 acres of Governors Island. The Trust's mission is to realize the full potential of Governors Island for the inspiration and enjoyment of all New Yorkers, demonstrating a bold vision for public space. For more information, visit www.govisland.org.


The New York Climate Exchange (“The Exchange”) is a new nonprofit designed to accelerate climate solutions. By leveraging the perspectives of a cross-sector network of diverse partners and New York City’s global influence, The Exchange engages in cutting-edge research, delivers impactful education and training, hosts world-class convenings, and scales climate technology solutions. The Exchange is developing a state-of-the-art climate campus on Governors Island that will bring climate scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and changemakers under one roof—sparking the collaborations and breakthrough ideas we need to build a sustainable future. Learn more at www.nyclimateexchange.org.