Welcome to RRI’s UN Climate Week agenda! Every year, Climate Week offers a pivotal opportunity for global leaders, innovators, and activists to converge and tackle the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. This week-long gathering provides not only a platform for groundbreaking discussions on climate and sustainability, but also spotlights the critical role of Indigenous Peoples (IPs), Afro-descendant Peoples (ADPs), and local communities (LCs) in shaping our environmental future.

Here’s a list of RRI’s planned events and speaking engagements at Climate Week. 

All times and locations are local to New York City (UTC-4). Events are listed chronologically and event registration/live stream access is included, when applicable.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Forests, People, Climate Gathering

When: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. EST

Where: 30 W 44th Street, New York City 10036

What: The objective of this meeting is to strengthen current funder commitments to Forests, People, Climate (FPC), inspire prospects to learn and build their understanding of the benefits of the collaborative model, connect key partners to the funder community, strengthen understanding of FPC, and communicate the importance of this political moment and the role FPC can play in mobilizing critical resources to the field. Deborah Sanchez, Director of the Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI)—RRI’s IP- and LC-led funding mechanism—will share details of CLARIFI’s innovative model and its impact, challenges, and lessons learned.

How: Attendance is by invitation only.

Breakout Session: Collective Protection and Expanding Our Ability to Prevent Harm, as part of a Strategy Session for Defenders

When: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST

Where: Closed session

What: Moderated by RRI and Protection International, this breakout session will provide a space to discuss best practices in collective protection; share how communities and grassroots organizations have been developing their own collective practices and how to strengthen these efforts; address challenges of state-run protection mechanisms; and strategize on how to center support for collective protection within efforts to address climate change and protect biodiversity. Keith Slack, RRI’s Senior Director of Programs, will be coordinating this breakout session on collective rights protection

How: Attendance is by invitation only.

Defending the Defenders: Safeguarding Climate Advocacy

When: 12:10 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. EST

Where: Columbia Law School, 116th and Broadway, New York City 10027

What: Join us for a conversation with environmental frontline climate defenders on the threats they face and strategies to support them and their essential climate work.

How: This event is open to the public. Register by clicking here.

Workshop on Legal Advisory Support Fund for Rightsholders

When: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST

Where: 873 Broadway, Suite 301, New York City 10003

What: RRI will convene an expert workshop to assess communities’ needs for legal and technical support in the context of increasing pressure by nature-based solutions. We will identify pathways to providing independent technical and legal expertise to communities for engagement in market-based interventions or jurisdictional schemes; define existing gaps and solutions for enhancing their access to independent technical or legal support; and discuss the feasibility of establishing an independent advisory body to provide timely support for communities. 

The workshop will aim to appraise the demand for such support, identify key institutions that should be involved, and establish a process for developing solutions that could be launched at COP30 in Brazil in 2025 alongside international standard bearers for carbon offsets, progressive companies, governments, and donors.

How: Attendance is by invitation only.

Leveraging Ambition for 30×30 and Beyond: The Road to CBD COP16

When: 3:30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. EST

Where: 768 5th Ave, New York City 10019

What: This event will explore the collective path needed to achieve the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by 2030. It will comprise one ministerial/high-level roundtable inviting ministers and representatives, including Deborah Sanchez, Director of the Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI)—RRI’s IP- and LC-led funding mechanism—to discuss the financial efforts that have already been committed to implement the GBF and encourage more commitments from additional countries and partners.

How: Attendance is by invitation only.

Celebrating a Partnership for People, Nature, and Climate in the Congo Basin

When: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST

Where: 37 W 24th Street, New York City 10010

What: This event will celebrate a unique partnership between regional and global allies to implement a project strengthening the collective land and forest rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the Congo Basin, particularly the women within these communities. The project, funded by RRI’s rightsholder-led funding mechanism CLARIFI, aims to secure communities’ rights to more than 3 million hectares of land in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of the Congo, and Gabon and empower them to protect the region’s natural resources against loss and destruction. We will provide an update on the project’s achievements and screen a short documentary showcasing the voices of the project’s beneficiaries in the DRC. The documentary’s filmmakers will join us for an informal Q&A, followed by a networking reception.

The project partners include: Rights and Resources Initiative, Network of Indigenous and Local Populations for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (REPALEAC), Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), and Campaign for Nature. It is being implemented with support from Bezos Earth Fund, Packard Foundation, Christensen Fund, and Skoll Foundation.

How: Attendance is free and open to the public, but by registration only. Sign up by clicking here!

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Path to Scale Meeting and The Good Funding Hub

When: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST

Where: 873 Broadway, Suite 301, New York City 10003

What: RRI’s Path to Scale initiative will hold its 2024 annual meeting at the Good Funding Hub, a collaboration between Maliasili, Synchronicity Earth, and RRI. This meeting aims to collectively outline a set of principles for a new IP, LC, and ADP funding pledge to replace the COP26 IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge, using UN Climate Week as a moment to both inform and promote a new, more ambitious pledge at COP30 in Brazil in 2025. Learn more about #ThePledgeWeWant. We will also launch a new report with practical recommendations for USAID to help it implement its localization agenda and deliver more direct, fit for purpose aid to communities. Participants will reflect on how to influence localization agendas of other bilateral donors using the report’s recommendations.

How: Attendance is by invitation only.

Funding Climate Impact Session

When: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST

Where: 420 5th Ave (in between 37th and 38th Street), New York City 10018

What: The Funding Climate Impact session at UN Climate Week will bring leading philanthropists together to learn about opportunities for impact that are vetted and supported by peer funders and that have clearly defined objectives and outcomes associated with scaled funding. The event’s objective is to generate scaled funding for high-impact, ready-to-fund climate solutions. RRI Coordinator and President, Solange Bandiaky-Badji, will present a proposal for an IP- and LC-led climate solution. This event is hosted by Bill Gates and Breakthrough Energy, Nat Simons, Laura Baxter-Simons, and Climate Lead.

How: Attendance is by invitation only.