WECAN AT CLIMATE WEEK 2025
Please join us at Climate Week this September as the call grows louder than ever for governments and financial institutions to take urgent climate action. Global climate justice movements are rallying to address the deepening crisis and accelerate a path forward. At the forefront, women and feminists in all of their diversity are championing just and resilient community-led solutions.
In this moment when a pathway forward seems laden with impossible obstacles, every action matters as we defend all that we hold dear and challenge the powers that be. While the ongoing rise of authoritarianism seeks to dismantle the progress of decades of social and environmental policies and action, we know that a future of justice, care, and reciprocity is a world our community and global allies are summoning forward. WECAN will never give up hope, and we will continue to act in our full capacity for the planet and all of our communities.
WECAN will be on the ground in New York City during Climate Week 2025 from September 20-26 advocating and organizing with women leaders globally for public events, actions, and advocacy opportunities as well as strategy sessions with policy makers and movement partners. Please be welcome to join us! See the following public events hosted by WECAN.
We will continue to update this page soon with more of our events in-person and online, as well as highlighting events in collaboration with partners and colleagues.
WECAN CLIMATE WEEK EVENTS & ACTIONS
Women in Action for Climate Justice and a Just Transition:
Path to COP30 and Beyond
Wednesday, September 24
4:30 - 7:30pm ET NYC Time
777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
To build a healthy and equitable future, we must transform our local and global systems, and champion a regenerative, rights-based approach that prioritizes communities and nature, tackling the root causes of our intertwined social, economic, and climate crises. Please join us in-person during Climate Week in New York City for an inspiring and strategic WECAN event, “Women in Action for Climate Justice and a Just Transition: Path to COP30 and Beyond.”
Join us for this inspiring event where global women leaders in all of their diversity will shine a light on a Just Transition and share comprehensive, intersectional approaches and strategies to accelerate community-led climate solutions, phase out fossil fuels, protect democracy, and uplift the climate justice movement. Critical topics include forest protection and reforestation, gender-responsive climate policies, fossil fuel resistance, food sovereignty, Indigenous and human rights; Rights of Nature; and strategic campaigns and policies for COP30 and beyond. There will also be a special presentation spotlighting WECAN’s ongoing campaigns and programs.
Featured Speakers:
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Secretary Puyr Tembé (Tembé), First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, Brazil
- Thilmeeza Hussain, Director, United Nations Regional Commissions New York Office, Maldives/USA
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Colette Pichon-Battle, Vision and Initiatives Partner, Taproot Earth, Lawyer and Climate Justice Activist, Turtle Island/USA
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Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador, WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA
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Tzeporah Berman, Chair, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Canada
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Jozileia Kaingang (Kaingang), Executive Director, National Association of Indigenous Women's Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), Brazil
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Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA
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Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), 2024 Climate Breakthrough Award Winner, Turtle Island/Canada
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Bridget Burns, Executive Director, Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), Turtle Island/USA
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With moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Turtle Island/USA
WECAN CO-ORGANIZED EVENTS
WECAN Meet-Up for the Make Billionaires Pay March
Saturday, September 20
New York, New York
Meet up time and location coming soon!
On September 20, communities will come together for the Make Billionaires Pay March in New York City. This is a critical moment to take a stand against billionaire feudalism, while uplifting our visions for equity, democracy, community-led solutions, and climate justice strategies.
The march will occur alongside "Draw the Line" simultaneous actions around the world as part of international mobilizations for climate justice. Authoritarian regimes are on the rise but people are fighting back. We are uniting across the world to demand a better future for our communities and for all living beings.
Want to march with us? Read below for more details!
Meet up Location: Northeast corner of Park Ave and 50th Street
Time: 11:30 AM - 12:00 Noon Eastern Time – The march will begin moving at noon!
Nearest address for GPS: Inside Park - 325 Park Ave, E 50th St Entrance, New York, NY 10022
What to Look for: A “Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels and Building a Just Transition” Banner and members of the WECAN team.
Any updates will be shared on this landing page, and also on the Facebook event here.
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN)
During Climate Week NYC 2025, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) will center the voices of frontline communities and Indigenous leaders who defend Nature as a living entity with inherent rights, confronting the systemic roots of environmental destruction. It’s more urgent than ever to speak truth to power and demand a legal and cultural shift, making Nature’s rights part of the climate solution. See below a special highlighted event from GARN:
International Rights of Nature Tribunal: Defending Earth, People and Climate against Fossil Fuels
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM ET
People’s Forum, 320 West 37th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), New York, NY 10018
The International Rights of Nature Tribunal will present the newly released judgment on the Mountain Valley Pipeline case and hear testimonies on fossil fuel extraction and destructive monoculture practices, exposing how projects like pipelines, fracking, and industrial plantations violate the rights of ecosystems, communities, and the climate. The event will highlight pathways for justice and accountability while inviting broader engagement with the movement to defend Earth and uphold the Rights of Nature.
Join us in New York and online to make sure Mother Earth is not just at the table, but at the heart of the conversation. Please find a full list of events here.
Behind the Byline: Climate Journalism & Centering the Rights of Nature
at the Climate Mic Drop Summit
Tuesday, September 23
Further details to be announced!
As climate change accelerates, journalism is not only a tool for informing the public but also for shaping cultural values around what—and who—needs protection. This session brings together leading voices in environmental reporting and advocacy to explore how the “rights of nature” framework can move from courtrooms and community struggles into headlines and newsrooms.
Journalist Karla Mendes (Mongabay), movement leader Osprey Orielle Lake (Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network), and Ponca Nation elder and activist Casey Camp-Horinek will share how storytelling rooted in justice and reciprocity can challenge extractive narratives and amplify Indigenous leadership. Moderated by Aparna Mukherjee of the Society of Environmental Journalists, the conversation will probe how media can more responsibly reflect Earth’s inherent rights and inspire readers toward deeper accountability and care.
PARTNER EVENTS
7 Directions of Service
7 Directions of Service will be at New York Climate Week organizing a series of powerful, Indigenous-led events that uplift the Rights of Nature, rematriation, and climate justice. See below for more details, and follow them on social media for updates!
Event 1: Rights of Nature: Protecting Land & Life from Fossil Fuels
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
545 8th Ave, 21st Floor, Suite 2110, New York, NY 10018
[Event Link]
Event 2: Appalachia to the Gulf South: Rematriation as Climate Justice
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 12:45 PM – 1:45 PM
545 8th Ave, 21st Floor, Suite 2110, New York, NY 10018
[Event Link]
Event 3: Indigenous-led Rights of Nature: Dismantling Fossil Fuel Colonialism and Building Climate Resilience
7DS and Movement Rights will co-host this event.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 6:30 PM
307 W 38th Street, 15th Floor, Suite 1505, Midtown Manhattan, New York
[Event Link]
Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty
During New York Climate Week, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty team will be coordinating events that will bring together world leaders, policymakers, civil society, and experts to advocate for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and chart a path toward a sustainable, fossil-free future. Find a list of all Fossil Fuel Treaty events online here.
Please see below details for a special event at the Climate Group Hub Live Mainstage.
The Hub Live mainstage: The high stakes at hand – how to lead in an era of peril and possibility
22 September
As we stand at the intersection of a changing climate and the ‘see-sawing’ of geopolitical upheaval, leadership has never been more critical. Our action, whether policy-driven or business-motivated, needs to move swiftly and decisively because the reality is clear: climate change doesn’t wait for interests, alliances, or global consensus to align. We need bold new frameworks that push the boundaries of what we thought was possible - policies that don’t just mitigate risk but capitalize on the opportunities for transformative change. More details are on the Fossil Fuel Treaty website.
Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School
The Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School will host a series of events during Climate Week in New York City.
These events will feature critical climate and enviromental justice discussions, including the Tishman Environment and Design Center's Climate Week 2025 keynote event: Building Local to Global Climate Coalitions Powered by Communities, on Tuesday, September 23rd, from 10 am to 12 pm, moderated by Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista, Associate Professor at TNS and Director of the Tishman Environment & Design Center. Learn more about all their events here.
iINDIGENOUS Climate Week Event: I DEFEND THE LIVING AMAZON: Proposals on the Road to COP30
iINDIGENOUS Climate Week Event: I DEFEND THE LIVING AMAZON: Proposals on the Road to COP30
Date & Time: Thursday, September 25, 5:00 - 8:00 PM ET, New York City Time
Location: The People's Forum, 320 West 37th Street New York, NY 10018
Register for this event here!
iINDIGENOUS is honored to be holding and sharing space on the ground in NYC - Lenape Territory with our AMAZONIA relatives during Climate Week 2025. This year collaborating with Amazonia: OPIAC & COIAB, Stand.earth and Avaaz, we support and co-host the " I DEFEND THE LIVING AMAZON: Proposals on the Road to COP30" event led by Indigenous Peoples.
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