Earlier this month, climate, policy and community leaders came together for the Harlem Week Climate Change and Environmental Justice Conference to discuss the importance of “Incorporating Community Voices in Environmental Justice Planning.”
Harlem Week itself began in 1974 as a single-day event called Harlem Day. The idea was the brainchild of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and Lloyd Ashburn Williams, the godson of Malcolm X, who served as the Chamber’s president from 1983 until his death in 2025 at the age of 80. From humble beginnings, Harlem Week has now expanded to over a month’s worth of activities. Co-hosted by the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and Columbia Climate School, in partnership with WE ACT for Environmental Justice and the City College of New York, this marks the ninth conference in a biannual series.
Daniel Zarrilli, chief climate and sustainability officer at Columbia University, introduced the August event and reflected on its ongoing significance since the conference began in 2022: “We came together to recognize that if we’re going to solve the challenges that we face from climate change, we need to get out into the community to work with, hear and learn from the community, so that we can come up with effective solutions together,” he said.
In her opening remarks, Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson spoke of the importance of collaboration between Columbia and the community, underscoring that “solving climate challenges requires more than scientific knowledge alone. It requires appreciation for the expertise that exists within every community.”
She praised the work of WE ACT and organizations like it, which have helped cities understand the climate emergency as not only an environmental issue but one deeply connected to justice. “Where we live, the quality of our housing, access to green space, the condition of our infrastructure and the resources available to our neighborhoods all shape how climate risk is experienced,” said Abramson.
With New York City scheduled to roll out its comprehensive environmental justice plan later this year, Abramson said universities such as Columbia have an important collaborative role to play. “Our responsibility is to contribute research, educate future leaders and support problem solving in collaboration with communities.” She gave examples including Columbia Climate School’s partnership with WE ACT’s Technical Advisory Center, which aims to help underserved communities access grant and funding opportunities to advance environmental, climate and energy justice issues, as well as the Climate School’s work on community air quality monitoring in Queens, and on microfiber filtration technology in Harlem to reduce microplastic pollution before it reaches our waterways.
Next up, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams delivered an impassioned keynote in support of New York state and city initiatives at a time when “federal leadership has become increasingly uncertain…. They do not understand the difference between the temperature, the weather and the climate. And even as our climate is literally changing before our eyes, they still want us to invest in things that make climate change worse.” Williams was upfront about New York’s challenges, like reducing flood risk across the city, and underscored the importance of legislation to decarbonize the city, including Local Law 97, the All-Electric Buildings Act, and the Build Public Renewables Act, and the “need to ensure that New York’s pause on data centers achieves its purpose, giving us time to understand their impact on our electric grid, our communities and energy costs before making decisions that will impact future generations.”
“Climate change is no longer a warning about the future. It is a reality we are living through today,” Williams said. But he also delivered a hopeful message, that through the hard work of retrofitting buildings, installing community solar and battery storage and similar efforts, we can create green jobs and “ensure that every child can breathe clean air.” The climate crisis is one of the greatest tests of our time, he said, but it is also our greatest opportunity to build a more equitable and resilient city.
The final event was a panel discussion moderated by Zarrilli, with panelists Caleb Smith, New York City policy manager at WE ACT; Lisa Garcia, commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Cara Taubman, an emergency physician at Harlem Hospital Center; Padmore John, acting commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Christine Osuji, director of environmental justice at Con Edison.
A video replay of the event can also be found here.
