Climate Week NYC 2026: A Communicator's Perspective

Emily Gracey: Well, welcome to a special edition of Weekly Weather Brief. We're doing things a little bit differently this week. We're gonna really focus on one topic

Elisa Raffa: Okay.

Emily Gracey: I'm meteorologist Emily Gracie, as usual, joined by my co-host.

Kerrin: I'm meteorologist Karen Jeremy. Thanks so much for joining us again for this special episode. Really excited to talk to our guest today, all about Climate Week, New York City activities.

Emily Gracey: Yes, welcome Elisa Rappa. But we're so thrilled to have you on a friend of ours from many conferences past, a digital meteorologist, a science communicator, all-around awesome person who was at Climate Week. So who better to talk about this? Alisa, welcome to the show.

Elisa Raffa: Thank you so much for having me. So great to see you ladies even virtually. And thank you for having me

Emily Gracey: Yeah.

Elisa Raffa: on to chat about this. I'm very excited.

Emily Gracey: All right, we're gonna dig into

Kerrin: Absolutely.

Emily Gracey: what happened last week. before we really dig into it, remind our viewers, our listeners, anyone that's new that just found this show to please hit subscribe or follow on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen. So that you can get our weekly weather updates every week. Karen and I sit down and talk about the big stories of the week. And the big story of last week was Climate Week in New York City. So Elisa, first of all, can you tell us what is climate week? Cause not everybody knows what this is.

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, so it happens every year the same week as the UN General Assembly. And so not only do we have world leaders in town in New York City, we have climate communicators, policymakers, just the plethora and corners of all things climate. And there are quite literally hundreds if not thousands of events that go on all week, all over the city, all five boroughs. It can be both exciting with the plethora of things that are going on. And it's also pretty overwhelming because when I say things are all over the city.

Emily Gracey: Can imagine.

Elisa Raffa: When you're making your schedule, you have to figure out, okay, wait, this is on the west side. Now how do I bop over to the east side? And this is on Roosevelt

Kerrin: Ha ha ha.

Elisa Raffa: Island. I got to take the tram and then I go back downtown. but it is, it's so fun. And the breadth and the variety of people that come to town to talk about climate, it really is inspiring.

Emily Gracey: And for folks who can't tell from hearing you talk, you're from New York, correct? Is this something like you have

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, yeah.

Emily Gracey: you been aware of this for years that this has been going on for like almost twenty years at this point?

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, so born and raised in New York City. So for me, it was just a week home, a week at mom's house. And I did this for

Kerrin: Nice.

Elisa Raffa: the first time last year. And the year or two before that, actually got married during climate week. So climate week will forever be during my wedding anniversary of my poor husband.

Emily Gracey: Ha ha ha ha

Elisa Raffa: But yes, this is my second time doing it.

Kerrin: I would have loved to have heard those wedding vows. You're like through sickness

Elisa Raffa: Yeah

Kerrin: and health and through sustainable living, right? Like everything you commit to together there. Well, that's great. Alisa,

Elisa Raffa: Yes.

Emily Gracey: Ha ha ha

Kerrin: thank you again for your insight because you were there. We had some serious FOMO last week not being present, but you know, there

Emily Gracey: Mm-hmm.

Kerrin: was great recaps on the website, but I want to hear it directly from you as people come from really all over the world, leaders and climate activists, climate supporters, everyone who is in this space. What was the general sentiment of the week as these conversations were happening? Was there hope? Was there anxiety? What was the feeling while you were there?

Elisa Raffa: Yes and yes, a little bit of everything.

Emily Gracey: Ha ha

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, a little bit of everything. I did walk away feeling optimistic and hopeful because I know the three of us ladies on this call, right, we all care about extreme weather and climate. But like this work can sometimes feel siloed, right? It can feel like I'm the only one that cares and the only one trying to do something about it. So it was really optimistic to be in rooms full of people all having the same conversation. There are so many people that care about the climate crisis and are working towards solutions. So that was like the optimistic part of like, hey, I'm not alone. There's a whole army of people that care about this and are doing some really great work. There were some anxieties about a couple of things about the political climate around climate action, also around the changing media landscape, right? Everyone is all over, so many different platforms nowadays. It's hard to get the word out because our people on Instagram, are they on TikTok? Are they on YouTube? Are they watching TV? Are they on Netflix? And like, will the algorithms even get this video to them? Just the anxiety of like the day in which we're trying to communicate climate change in a changing media landscape, that alone can... feel very stressful. So it was a little bit of both, but I definitely did walk away feeling hopeful and optimistic at some of the cool, really cool work that all different types of people are doing.

Emily Gracey: Did you see anyone famous, Elisa? That's what I wanna know.

Elisa Raffa: I mean, I feel like we're, I'm trying to think, did I say any more famous?

Emily Gracey: You can name drop, you're in a safe place.

Kerrin: Herself? Herself.

Elisa Raffa: Let's see. No, I did not. But

Kerrin: Ha ha.

Elisa Raffa: I did get to spend so much time with so many of our colleagues that we all know and love at so many of these events that come from all sectors of broadcast and digital meteorology. And so it was really cool to kind of like rekindle with colleagues and friends at all of these different events.

Kerrin: Yeah. I mean that's great. You obviously are in the communication space and so that's what stood out to you. But what I think is so great about Climate Week is it brings people from all sectors together. The communicators, as you said, political figures, leaders, sustainability, I'll call experts, but you know, city planners, everything, like every sector from buildings to energy to food to how we grow, like you said, like through technology and AI. So with

Elisa Raffa: Okay. Okay.

Kerrin: all of those people coming together, I wonder how the conversations unfold, right? Like how how can we possibly get each other out of our silos and come together? And that's what this event is all about. So I mean talk a little bit about that, about the importance of coming together in all different voices being heard at Climate Week.

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, The biggest solution is we're not, we need to talk, right? Like we're not talking about it enough. Talking about climate change is a solution. Having these conversations because there is a sense of like, silence in the community because we think our neighbor doesn't care, but like in reality, our neighbor does care just as much as us, if not maybe more, but we don't know that because we're not talking about it. But to your point, it was so incredibly cool. This is my favorite part about talking about climate solutions. I, as a meteorologist, love how I can have conversations about my science with so many different kinds of people, types of people, people of different expertise because Unfortunately, climate change touches every corner of our lives. But the interesting part about that is that everyone gets a seat at the table when talking about it. like I sat on panels that included comedians talking about how we reach audiences with puns about climate change. Like they literally were late night host writers. yeah, comedians and native chief from the Amazon who did a film to talk about indigenous people on the front lines that are often not given that seat at the table. A nutritionist, like a physician that specializes in nutrition. Filmmakers, even I sat next to some fashion editors from GQ and Teen Vogue, like because they have audiences too that care about climate change and they just reach them in a different way. the behavioral scientists about how do we think about climate

Kerrin: Yeah.

Elisa Raffa: change and how do we reach people, you know, like we did with other problems like cigarettes and tobacco, right? There was a learning curve there and teaching people that that's unhealthy for you. Okay, how do we kind of take those lessons here? It was just the diversity in the voices was really, really cool.

Kerrin: So you're right. I mean I think it depends on what your sector is and what your expertise is, is why people go there, right? As the the three of us would go, we'd be interested in the effects of extreme weather events and the widespread impacts that come with that and how can we bring solutions and talk about it the right way, but if you get someone from a different sector They're bringing their own expertise and they're bringing their voice into the conversation. And I think that's what's so important about the climate conversation is that we do have that variability of voices and different ideas and different solutions. And what I did see from some of the takeaways is that the solutions are there. We just need to figure out how to do together and then all move forward in the same direction and make people care, most importantly. I'm sure you heard that as a common theme that

Elisa Raffa: Yeah.

Kerrin: week.

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, talk, talk, talk. We're not talking about it, right? Like we need to talk about it. We need to educate people. there's so much public survey data, public opinion data that shows that overwhelmingly people support these solutions. Like who doesn't want clean air, clean water? I've never heard anybody that said, I would like to breathe dirty air, please. know, right. Like we all want clean air, clean water,

Kerrin: Gotta Yeah, I don't care about that. Yes.

Elisa Raffa: right? We all want the same things, a cheaper, more resilient life, right? So it's just a matter of talking about it and yes, implementing the solutions. we figured out what the problem was, right? We figured out what we got to do. It's just a matter of coming together and doing it.

Emily Gracey: Was there anything that popped up that really surprised you that you would want like the general public to know about, to to take away from this

Elisa Raffa: I've been doing this work in climate communication for 10 years and it's sometimes it can feel very lonely. but it was, there truly was droves of people. Even I actually went to the UN for a climate event and to sit at the UN. and hear so many different languages and see so many different cultures, The togetherness that the climate crisis can bring, that was like the most empowering, coolest part was that, you know, we're not, we can't all be in this singularly, right? Because it's only when we put all of our heads together that we're gonna solve this. yeah, the togetherness from so many different peoples, cultures, countries, So yeah, I would just want people to know that more people care about climate change than you think. There's a lot

Kerrin: Yeah.

Elisa Raffa: of data that shows us that. A lot of people care. A lot of people agree on solutions. And so we just need to talk about these solutions and start getting some action rolling. And it feels like climate week is like the springboard for that.

Emily Gracey: I always feel energized

Kerrin: 'cause that's the

Emily Gracey: walking away from conferences. It sounds like you definitely got some energy off of this one.

Elisa Raffa: I mean, there was even a whole panel. I wound up missing this one. I didn't get to go, but there was a whole panel on how do we talk to children about this? Sesame Street is starting a whole series on extreme weather and climate anxiety.

Kerrin: I saw that.

Elisa Raffa: Yes, like children notice this, Like children, they can see when extreme weather comes and you know, and so like, how do we talk to children about it? I actually did hear from a speaker last year when I went who specializes in talking about climate change to kids and like, what does that look like? And like, so things like that, like things that you wouldn't think of that you're like, wow. That's so cool. Someone is really making a difference.

Kerrin: So you you mentioned it just a moment ago, there's a lot of talk happening, but we need to see action. So what

Elisa Raffa: Mm-hmm.

Kerrin: are the next steps? How did the week end to actually make progress and take tangible steps?

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, I think one of the tangible steps from one of the panels that I went to was literally talking as an action So just being better about even within the community, helping each other can be like a massive next step and massive action item. Because if the people are energized, right, if we're talking about it and the people are energized, then it just makes more sense for our policymakers, you know, if people are chatting and talking to their leaders, their elected leaders about I want more climate action and this doesn't make sense in my community and things like that, like, that's how we can push the needle. when it comes to policy. We pushed and pushed for policy for so many years and we got policy and it didn't last that long. We're going through a dismantling period with some of that policy right now. So like the communication aspect can really be key to making sure that some of that policy can stick, right? If more people care about it, more people are talking about it, then the policy doesn't really come and go as much. you know, it can stick a little bit harder if more people care about it.

Kerrin: Right, right. Voting, making

Emily Gracey: Makes sense. Interesting.

Kerrin: direction.

Elisa Raffa: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Emily Gracey: Cool. Anything else you want to share about Climate Week, Alisa? Can anyone go?

Elisa Raffa: Just thank you. Yeah, pretty much. A lot of so there are some events that are like invite only close to the public. Like you mentioned some of the like celebrity groups. Those are like invite only, you know, like when the Clinton Global Initiative had like Prince Harry speaking and things like that, you know what I mean? Like, sure, not everyone can go see Prince Harry. I'm a little upset about that one, but you

Kerrin: You We can't get in? Darn

Elisa Raffa: of those things are a little bit tighter than others.

Emily Gracey: It's okay. More of a William gal myself.

Elisa Raffa: but there are a lot of events that are open to the public. They just take RSVP And those were most of the events that I went to that were like free and open to the public. live in a world of extreme weather and talking about meteorology a lot. And so it's really cool to kind of spread my wings a little bit more and more than I even know, learn from other people about what's going on in. the world of climate solutions. I don't know everything. I don't. And so it's really cool to sit in some of these rooms and just listen to other people and what they're dealing with.

Kerrin: Uplifting, for sure, when you hear that there are solutions and people are really thinking about this every day in all of their different sectors, yes, it it is hopeful, right, that we're going the right direction. you mentioned that anyone can get to these and we should mention the Climate Week, New York City is not the only one. There are more than twenty cities, more than that, worldwide that host these climate weeks.

Elisa Raffa: Atlanta's Climate Week is coming up in mid-October and it's the first time that Atlanta is doing something like this. So more and more cities are trying to do events like this to bring more people to the table. So yeah, check it out if it's in a city near you. Don't be shy. We're all really nice. Come say hi. Come

Kerrin: Ha ha.

Elisa Raffa: chat with us about climate. We love doing that. Yes. Yes.

Kerrin: And and more importantly, bring your thoughts and your opinions and what your solutions are, right? That's the point of coming together.

Elisa Raffa: Absolutely.

Emily Gracey: Awesome. Well, Elisa Rafa,

Kerrin: And wait.

Emily Gracey: thank you so much for giving us a little insight into what happened last week, some amazing takeaways and some really uplifting takeaways as well. So we appreciate you coming on to talk about this today.

Elisa Raffa: Thank you for having me and thank you for using your platform to talk about these issues. So I appreciate that.

Kerrin: Yeah, it is important. And for more takeaways of the event, I'll put a plug that we'll put the link to climateweek nyc dot org in our show notes 'cause there's a lot of great takeaways by day of what everyone experienced there, in addition to Elisa's great thoughts. So thank you again for your your experience and sharing with us first hand, Elisa. Great to see you.

Elisa Raffa: Great to see you.