On October 15, a group of more than 40 people from Denver's climate community who attended New York Climate Week came together at the Alliance Center for "From New York to Colorado: Climate Week Reflections.” The session was hosted in partnership with the Alliance Center, Sustained Futures, and the American Sustainable Business Network.
We heard from attendees about the themes, conversations, and ideas that stood out in New York, what surprised them, and what felt most relevant to the work happening here in Colorado. Then we turned our attention to Colorado Climate Week 2027 (May 3-7, 2027) and asked which reflections should help shape it. The room brought together people who were in New York, people who contributed to Colorado Climate Week this year, and people who simply wanted to help set the direction for next year’s Colorado Climate Week events.
What came out of New York Climate Week
The framing of Climate Week conversations is shifting from a focus on sustainability to a focus on resilience, risk, and security. Physical climate risk now drives business and investment decisions, and water is emerging as its own asset class. S&P Global reports that corporate adaptation planning rose from 19% in 2022 to 46% in 2025, as insurers pull back after roughly $300 billion in 2024 losses, only half of them insured. AI and data center demand has put energy and the grid in the spotlight, and the job market has fewer openings and more candidates. Tech and sport are joining the conversation too: a GitHub and Yale survey found 86% of developers say climate change is happening, compared with 68% of the public.
New York has an exclusivity problem.
Coloradans felt access was the biggest barrier to collaboration in New York. New York Climate Week is hard to enter without a company or brand behind you, which shuts out freelancers, job seekers, and frontline communities. One attendee said New York felt visually "closed." Colorado has an opportunity to make ours visibly open, with free public events, access built in from the start, and frontline stories at the center. Language matters too: attendees suggested that words like resilience, water retention, and cost of diesel will land better than "climate."
Where Colorado Climate Week can shine:
The people in the room suggested that Colorado Climate week should focus on topics that matter for our state:
Water as the unifying theme. Colorado is a headwater state for three major watersheds, yet water is undervalued. Local water commissioner meetings and strong open meeting laws offer models for engagement.
Valuing agriculture and nature. With CSU a leader in animal agriculture and soil health, the state is well placed to lead, but these areas need more capital and clearer definitions of terms like "regenerative."
Adding more voices to the room: Our conversations should include talk of greening Colorado's tourism economy, building our energy independence, valuing Indigenous knowledge and citizen science, holding honest conversations about oil and gas, and continuing the conversation about data centers with people who understand their implications.
Relationships move this work forward, and Colorado can't count on chance encounters. The vision we heard: Climate Week as a celebration and checkpoint, supported by topic-based working groups all year.
Keep up the good work
Thank you to everyone who came, shared, and pushed our thinking in this local conversation. To keep the momentum going:
Read the full takeaways, including resources and links: Debrief takeaways document
Get involved in Colorado Climate Week 2027: Get involved form
Join us in person at the Alliance Center:
Alliance Center Open House, Friday, Nov. 6, 10am - 2pm
Job Seekers Resource Deep Dive: Patchwork Careers, Friday, Nov. 6, 12pm -1pm
Hot Takes Happy Hour: How we talk about "Climate Change." Thurs. Dec. 10, 4pm - 6pm
Colorado Climate Week is being shaped now, and we want you in the conversation.
