Main Stage Agenda Preview

Enjoy breakfast on the Campus because climate action cannot wait!

The Garden Eatery at The Nest Climate Campus is an engaging food experience and a place for robust networking as thought-leaders from the Campus gather for nourishment. Serving breakfast and lunch, the Eatery will feature locally-sourced and rooftop farm-grown plant based options and “sips and bites”.

Garden Eatery open daily from 8:00am - 4pm

Sustainability continues to evolve – from pledges, to plans, to pilots, to progress – and it is most powerful when it’s embedded into the way we work, think and lead.

Procter & Gamble Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Helias will talk about how sustainability is integrated into the company’s business strategy – across its operations, supply chain, and brands.

Capture insights on how to tackle big challenges using creativity and courage, learning from P&G’s experience, including pioneering a path with suppliers to decarbonize at the source, responding to water challenges through innovation and partnerships, enabling people to reduce their environmental impact at home, and scaling innovative solutions across industries to expand the scope, speed, and reach of change.

What are microplastics, where do they come from, and what do they really mean for our daily lives? Join an honest and hopeful conversation that cuts through the noise with scientific clarity, business innovation, and consumer empowerment.

Moderated by Jamie Richards, Director of ESG at Bansk Beauty, this panel brings together Phoebe Stapleton, PhD, Associate Professor with tenure in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and a resident member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute of Rutgers University, and Erica Cocilova, CEO of microplastic free sustainable beauty company Ethique. Together, they’ll explore what microplastics are (and aren’t), the misconceptions we should leave behind, and how businesses, scientists, and consumers can work collectively to drive meaningful change.

Enjoy breakfast on the Campus because climate action cannot wait!

The Garden Eatery at The Nest Climate Campus is an engaging food experience and a place for robust networking as thought-leaders from the Campus gather for nourishment. Serving breakfast and lunch, the Eatery will feature locally-sourced and rooftop farm-grown plant based options and “sips and bites”.

Garden Eatery open daily from 8:00am - 4pm

This keynote address will be delivered by Sheldon Whitehouse, who represents Rhode Island in the United States Senate, where he is fighting to position America as a leader in the clean energy economy and protect the Ocean State from the consequences of climate change.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW), Whitehouse takes on the fossil fuel industry and spearheads policies combatting the climate crisis, leading the transition to a clean energy economy, and strengthening environmental protections.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Whitehouse served as Rhode Island’s U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General before being elected to the United States Senate in 2006.

The transition to a cleaner, more resilient economy needs to accelerate. In America, the freedom to invest and the opportunity to grow businesses, manage financial risks, and protect long-term value are essential. This session – which features center-right perspectives – will explore the current challenges and solutions in advancing climate action. 

Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber will highlight the ways U.S. businesses are prospering in the transition and spotlight innovation and job growth. Prominent industry and policy experts will make the case for championing efforts to protect the long-standing rights of businesses to make responsible investment decisions. And a leading corporate executive will explain how sustainable practices across their operations and supply chains are helping them remain profitable and competitive.

Nature has always been a master innovator—from fungi that decompose waste to the dazzling, pigment-free color of butterfly wings. Today, businesses are translating these natural breakthroughs into powerful climate and sustainability solutions. But scaling them takes more than brilliance—it takes partnership. 

How large corporations are teaming up with nature-inspired innovators to drive meaningful, market-ready impact? How corporations embed nature’s principles into their operations? And if we truly let nature lead, what business decisions would look different tomorrow?

The Garden Eatery at The Nest Climate Campus is an engaging food experience and a place for robust networking as thought-leaders from the Campus gather for nourishment. Serving breakfast and lunch, the Eatery will feature locally-sourced and rooftop farm-grown plant based options and “sips and bites”.

Garden Eatery open daily from 8:00am - 4pm

In a week packed with bold ideas, here’s one you can act on: conservation that delivers for people, climate, and biodiversity—all at once.

New research from the National Audubon Society reveals that less than 3% of protected U.S. lands provide overlapping benefits for birds, carbon, and people. Even more striking: 95% of socially vulnerable populations in key conservation areas face multiple inequities—and are largely left out of current protections.

Audubon’s new framework identifies 312 million acres—14% of U.S. lands—where we can do better. This session offers a practical, people-centered path forward, showing how strategic land protection and local engagement can drive real impact across communities, climate, and ecosystems.

If you're working at the intersection of equity, nature, and climate—or want to be—this is a session you won’t want to miss.

Amidst the Climate Week in New York, VELA will unveil its decarbonised, 100% wind-powered, transatlantic freight service. This next-generation shipping solution offers up to 99% lower carbon emissions and faster lead times than traditional sea freight while offering high-end service for product integrity and traceability at air freight standards. Long term, VELA aims at operating the world’s largest fleet of sailing cargo vessels. On this panel hosted by VELA’s US investor, 11th Hour Racing, customers of VELA's solution from the pharmaceutical and industrial sectors will discuss the challenges of decarbonising overseas transportation while maintaining the quality of service and complying with the business requirements of demanding supply chains.

The American Institute of Architects believes that design can shape a zero-carbon, resilient, and equitable built environment. But architects can’t do this alone. We need supportive community leaders and policies to ensure that clients can make the best choices easily. 

For millions of kids, cracked and crumbling asphalt playgrounds are all they know—hot, fenced-in spaces that flood and stifle imagination. At Trust for Public Land, we believe our children and communities deserve better—so we’re transforming these spaces into thriving green community schoolyards.

Join us to see how policy, partnerships, and advocacy can reimagine America’s schoolyards—and build lasting climate resilience.

Imagine schoolyards shaded by trees and bursting with gardens—spaces for learning, playing, and dreaming. Spaces that protect people from rising temperatures and increasingly severe storms. Our vision: turn 2 million acres of schoolyards into cool, safe, and inspiring places that help students, neighborhoods, and our environment thrive.

Through our Community Schoolyards initiative, students help design these spaces while gaining skills, confidence, and fostering environmental stewardship. This is project-based learning in action.

Together, we are leading the way toward a healthier, brighter, and more connected future with nature for every student, in every community, everywhere.

In this panel, experts will share how policy, design, and community partnerships are transforming schoolyards into climate-resilient, nature-rich spaces—and how you can help bring this solution to your city. Everyone has a role in expanding this cost-effective, high-impact climate solution nationwide—to create healthier, more connected, and more resilient communities, starting with the schoolyard.

Invited guests will celebrate the tremendous collaboration, community engagement, and collective climate action taking place on the Campus.  

They'll enjoy: 

• Networking with top executives across industry and sector from The Nest Climate Campus communities.
• Hor d'oeuvres and cocktail reception.
• Gorgeous views of the Hudson River and Manhattan with access to the Javits Center’s outdoor rooftop, weather permitting.

Enjoy breakfast on the Campus because climate action cannot wait!

The Garden Eatery at The Nest Climate Campus is an engaging food experience and a place for robust networking as thought-leaders from the Campus gather for nourishment. Serving breakfast and lunch, the Eatery will feature locally-sourced and rooftop farm-grown plant based options and “sips and bites”

Garden Eatery open daily from 8:00am - 4pm

This keynote address will be delivered by Jeff Gitterman, a Partner at Gitterman Wealth Management and the CEO of Gitterman Asset Management. He  is a widely recognized leader in the climate-focused investing field, with a particular emphasis on climate adaptation and resilience, and the co-creator of the firm’s SMART (Sustainability Metrics Applied to Risk Tolerance)® Investing Services, which offer climate-focused investing solutions to individual investors and other financial advisory firms. 

Jeff is a co-host of TheIMPACT TV show, which films at the New York Stock Exchange. He speaks frequently at conferences throughout the United States, and has also been featured in Barron’s, Forbes, Financial Advisor Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and on CNN, among many others. 

Jeff is the author of Beyond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity, and also an Associate Producer of the feature documentary film Planetary.

At The Nest Climate Campus during Climate Week NYC 2025, Mike Silvestrini, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Energea, will share Energea's unique investment platform that  connects retail investors to solar portfolios around the globe. From powering off-grid installations in Colombia and commercial & industrial projects in Africa, to community solar developments in the U.S. and Brazil, Energea transforms impactful energy transition projects into accessible, sound investments for thousands of investors across the country. Energea demonstrates that investing in sustainability can deliver both meaningful environmental benefits and strong financial returns. Discover how this approach is helping shape a cleaner, more equitable global energy future.