A Week Worth Celebrating

*UN Ambassador Dr. Walton Webson, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, speaks at a Blue Planet Alliance event during UNGA and Climate Week NYC.*

"We've got to move from paper to people. We get a lot of pages in our work. In the 1990s, we envisioned a paperless society. In 2024, I don't know if we're paperless, or 'papermore.' But we've got to move from paper to people."

That's what H.E. Ambassador Dr. Walton Webson (Antigua and Barbuda’s UN Ambassador) — speaking about well-intentioned but ineffective conferences to better the planet — told the crowd at an event we co-produced last week, with our partners Peace Boat US, as part of Climate Week NYC.

That was just one of many events in which we or our partners had a presence, during one of the most important weeks of the year, climate-wise.

Climate Week NYC is designed to dovetail with the annual convening of the UN General Assembly, aka UNGA. And why not bring thousands of climate academics and activists, youth and experienced climatologists, public and private sector leaders together when the heads of state from the UN’s 193 member countries are in town, to remind them of how precarious our ecosystem is, and what we need to do to make a sustainable planet a reality?

Here are some highlights from the week, starting with the UN’s Summit of the Future, and ending with our annual Climate Week closer at the Hard Rock Hotel.

“Summit of the Future”

The UN Secretary-General convened a special four-day Summit of the Future, to catalyze multilateral collaboration, which can help us navigate the current polycrisis dominating the globe.

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley — herself a potential future Secretary-General — got a closing slot in the Summit’s closing ceremonies, in which she emphasized the African philosophy of Ubuntu, "I am because you are." The idea embodies the sense that we are only human through the humanity of others — a perfect message for the Summit of Future.

*Fridays for Future Strike, marching across the Brooklyn Bridge.*

“Global Climate Strike”

What better metaphor for building a bridge for the future than marching for a more sustainable future across the world’s most iconic bridge?

Organized by Fridays for Future International — and sponsored in part by Blue Planet Alliance (an official Endorsing Organization) — the march was part of a global strike to Tear Down the Pillars of Fossil Fuels and transition away from dirty energy.

“Leaders of Regeneration”

An interactive conversation with visionaries collaborating for regenerative development and ecosystems protection investment and innovation at the Harvard Club, produced by our friends at the Shakti Regeneration Institute. Our founder Henk Rogers and Senior Advisor Lance Gould (CEO of Brooklyn Story Lab) joined indigenous leaders with ancestral wisdom, touting the need for structural change to grow the green transition and catalyze a just and resilient future for all.

“Small Islands Leading the Way Towards 100% Renewables”

Our friends at Greening the Islands produced a program that builds on a vision of small islands as ideal testbeds for showcasing the technical and economic feasibility of transitioning to fully renewable energy systems, in the context of a global goal of tripling renewable capacity by 2030.

For small islands worldwide, which suffer existential threats from the rapidly accelerating impacts of climate change, developing ambitious renewable energy strategies stands as a vital priority. As reinforced by the major outcome of the SIDS4 Conference, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), switching to renewable energy has a key role to play for small islands’ energy security as well as economy-wide decarbonisation and revitalisation through job creation, empowerment of local value chains and communities, and circularity.

*BPA Global Ambassador Ashley Lashley of Barbados speaking at "Capacity Building for Intergenerational Collaboration on Climate and Ocean Action."*

“Capacity Building for Intergenerational Collaboration on Climate and Ocean Action”

An official side event of the UN’s Summit of the Future, this event — co-produced by BPA and our friends at Peace Boat US — featured Antigua Ambassador to the UN Walton Webson and four BPA Global Ambassadors — from India, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

“Global Ambassador Dinner”

BPA is committed to working with next-gen talents from islands, and regularly brings them to the most important global convenings on climate, such as UNGA, COP, and other UN events throughout the year. The intent is to give them exposure to such events and help better prepare them for a trajectory in global climate stewardship.

Then we celebrate them in a private annual dinner, in which the focus is on their islands and their work.

“Island Partnership Dinner”

One evening, one table, one conversation, one minute.

That's the premise for our annual Island Partnership Dinner, an intimate gathering in which we invite 30 of our closest partners — from the public sector, the private sector, and civil society — and truly focus on moving the needle on climate action.

After a half hour of cocktails and mingling, we all move to one table, for one conversation. Everyone gets the microphone for one minute, and there are no side discussions, so we're all in the moment for that person's perspective.

And our guests come from all over the world — islands in the Pacific, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean — for an evening of camaraderie on another island, Manhattan.

*The UNGA Science Summit, produced by Kinetik and co-hosted by BPA.*

“UNGA Science Summit: Islands Shaping the Future”

Islands face unique challenges but hold immense potential for sustainable development. The interactive dialogues in this official UNGA Science Summit — co-produced by our partners Kinetik and BPA, along with the governments of Tonga and Kiribati — showcases how island nations drive innovation and science in biodiversity through their Indigenous communities, culture, and natural resources. Dozens of guests included Dr. Sylvia Earle, Tonga UN Ambassador Viliami Va'inga Tone, Tonga Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Lord Fakafanua, and BPA founder Henk Rogers and Executive Director Francois Rogers.

The Cronkite Award

Congratulations to our Founder, Henk Rogers, who last Friday received a Cronkite Award. Bestowed by the Stone Soup Leadership Institute, the Cronkite Awards for Ocean Champions 2024 honored "visionary leaders in ocean conservation." The award ceremony, held aboard the Adirondack IV at Pier 62 (a ship Henk later helped christen!) celebrated his leadership in global climate initiatives, notably through Blue Planet Alliance and our Global Ambassadors Program. (In the photo above, you can see Henk along with some of our Global Ambassadors.)

“Climate Impact Talks and Celebration”

Our flagship annual event on the closing night of Climate Week NYC at the Hard Rock Hotel, featured a combination of fireside chats (like Henk Rogers with Dominica UN Ambassador Dr. Philbert Aaron, and Lance Gould with Tonga Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Lord Fakafanua), panels (featuring our youth ambassadors and MOU partners), and incredible musical performances (such as Joshua Sam Miller’s “Sounds of the Ocean”).

But we can’t celebrate for long — we still have so much work to do!