SAL/UER and NYC Climate Week Background
(new SAL manual draft here)
Sustaining All Life (SAL) formed in 2015 with the idea that it would be good for us to take what we know to the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris (COP21). We followed the model of what UER had done in Durban. We communicate key ideas (at that time it was a new idea that there was a connection between racism and climate change) and our listening tools. We’ve always been well received, and a good number of people have connected well and started RC. Since Paris we’ve also gone to climate change conferences in the US, Japan, Australia, England, and probably a few other places. We’ve been to NYC Climate Week 4 or 5 times. It’s developed into the largest conference on climate change in the US. Since the US plays such a big (and mostly bad) role re: climate change, we are committed to do a lot of work in the US and participating annually at US conferences like NYC CW.
At these events we usually arrive a day or two early so we can come together and hold a workshop, we attend any march that is happening, and then we usually present workshops, forums, intro classes, and listening projects for 5 or 6 days. We usually hold 2 - 3 events a day.
Each event has a leadership team and an organizing team. Everyone is expected to organize; most people aren’t asked to lead an event unless they’ve participated with SAL before. (So not everyone is on a leadership team.) There are exceptions. We usually have interpretation at some of the events, but because of limited interpretation resources, we ask an event to have contact with the community needing interpretation, or do outreach to that community, and not simply offer interpretation on the announcements. .
Look at some of our flyers from the past few events for you to look over and get an idea of what SAL will do at the event.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NYC CW 2024
The dates for NYC CW 2024 are September 22 – 29. That is about 6 weeks before the US Presidential elections, and we think that a lot of people’s attention will be focused there. What role the climate emergency will play in the Presidential election remains to be seen, but it will probably not have a huge upfront role. However, who is elected President will be key for addressing climate change. For this reason, one-third to one-half of our events will in one way or another address the upcoming US elections. The other events will be centered on climate justice issues. The timing of the elections may mean that fewer people participate in and attend NYC CW, but it remains the largest conference on climate change in the US.
We will hold our events from Monday the 23rd through Sunday the 29th, so that we have a full weekend of events on the 28th and 29th. We hope to end with Making a Climate for Families in Central Park on the 29th.
If the climate justice community is holding events during the week, we will make every effort not to hold more than one event (scheduled for the morning or early afternoon) on the days they are holding events in the evening. After our morning event we could all go to the climate justice events to support that work. We hope to have a designated climate justice team that participates more fully with the climate justice organizations, like we did in 2023.
We have the whole floor reserved for our use in the same building as in 2023, on 41st Street, about 5 blocks from the UN. We will do listening projects outside the UN—they do attract people to our events—and on Wall Street.
SOME LOGISTICS
We welcome individuals and teams to stay for the whole week and support the whole week of events, or you may choose to come for the first half of the week (Saturday through Wednesday) or the second half of the week (Thursday through Sunday).
Our plan is to hold our all delegation workshop on Saturday, September 21, in-person and on Zoom for those not yet in NYC. 10 am to 5 pm.
We hope there will again be a march on Sunday the 22nd, and we plan to participate in that again, and set up our rooms in the morning before it begins. If there is no march, I expect we will lead events that day.
We provide housing (unless you want to stay with friends in NYC), transportation, and a per diem; all upon request. We happily take donations of your time, and any expenses you want to pay for yourself.
We usually start our day formally with a delegation meeting at 9 am and try to end by 6 pm.
EVENT LIST
The proposed schedule is here.