From Systems to Stories: How NY Climate Week Showed What’s Working (and What’s Not) in Climate Communication
Every September, New York fills with thousands of climate leaders, policymakers, and business innovators, all trying to answer one question: how do we move faster? Team members of Marshall Sustainability have attended Climate Week for years now, and this year, it was clear that while technologies are scaling and capital is flowing, the real breakthrough may not be technological at all; it’s how we tell the story.
Across hundreds of panels, a few consistent threads emerged. The business case for sustainability has arrived. Communications are shifting from goals to progress. And across industries, creativity is being used as a tool for compliance.
1. The Business Case Has Arrived
If you were looking for ROI, regulation, and renewables, you found them everywhere. The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Alumni presentation summed it up simply: the green economy is now worth over $2 trillion, but we’re still at only three-quarters of what’s needed to reach net-zero.
Companies that once saw sustainability as a side project are now building it into their growth engines. It’s being driven as much by states like California and regions like the EU, as by the market opportunity itself. The conversations weren’t about why anymore, but how to compete.
As one panelist put it, “Sustainability won’t sell on its own — but paired with superior benefits, it outperforms the competition.” That’s the new bar.
2. Trust Drives Adoption While Technology Supports
Policy is evolving from subsidizing partial solutions to rewarding real performance in energy efficiency. A memorable panel from Crux Alliance brought together different perspectives across regulatory, industry, and innovation incubators to spark insights. New York’s latest heat pump incentive programs illustrate this shift — they now pair heat pump installations with building envelope upgrades to ensure that homeowners actually feel the promised comfort and savings. But as the insiders emphasized, technology alone doesn’t drive adoption; trust does.
Contractors need confidence that systems will work. Households need affordability and clarity. And everyone needs transparent rate structures that make electrification practical. Missouri was highlighted as a model, where electricity rates make all-electric homes cost-competitive — proving that trust in outcomes accelerates adoption.
Equally important is how we talk about these technologies. The term “heat pump” doesn’t capture the full benefit, as it’s not just about heat but also about comfort, control, and clean air. One communicator even suggested renaming it the “Comfort Machine.” As Electrification Creative Strategist, Sarah Lazarovic put it, the five C’s of effective storytelling are Cost, Comfort, Control, Community, and Climate in that order.
Helen Walter-Terrioni, Director of Global Climate Policy at Trane Technologies, reframed how we understand clean heat altogether. She described a heat pump as “a waterfall in a box.” Just as a waterfall cools the air through evaporation, a heat pump transfers heat — drawing it in during winter to warm your home and releasing it in summer to keep you cool. It’s a simple metaphor that captures a deeper truth: technology may make it possible, but trust makes it real.
3. Beyond Scopes: The Spheres of Influence
Many companies are ready to move beyond simply counting emissions to truly multiplying impact. Futerra and Oxford Net Zero’s Spheres of Influence white paper, launched at Climate Week, builds a framework that enables this by breaking corporate climate action into three clear domains of action.
Their model recognizes three domains of action:
Sphere A — Products and Services: Innovate the offerings that directly drive climate solutions.
Sphere B — Portfolio of Climate Finance: Direct investment capital toward decarbonization and resilience.
Sphere C — Policy and Public Engagement: Use brand influence to shape supportive systems and norms.
Its strength lies in its clarity. Spheres of Influence reframes sustainability as a question of strategic leverage rather than compliance, urging organizations to ask not just “How do we reduce?” but “Where do we transform?”
Early adopters like Oatly and Unilever are already using it to guide innovation, while Amazon and Kao shared how it helps unify teams that speak different “languages” of impact. It’s a simple, scalable tool with the potential to redefine how companies connect purpose to performance.
4. The Stories That Stick
If one message echoed across stages from Futerra’s Solutions House to Potential Energy Coalition’s Talk Like a Human, it was clear: climate solutions must connect emotionally, not just intellectually.
For example, Climate scientist Kate Marvel reminded audiences that cutting coal isn’t only about protecting the planet; it’s about saving lives today through cleaner air. Meanwhile, comedian Chuck Nice reframed communication as empathy in action: “Make them laugh first, then leave them with a thought they didn’t want to think about.” The shift in strategy is unmistakable: stop selling sacrifice, start selling better futures.
Potential Energy Coalition’s research shows that people respond when “clean energy” is framed as abundant and affordable, offering more choice and control. Technical language like decarbonization or net zero may be accurate, but it rarely inspires. As Freya Williams of Revolt put it best: “You can’t bore the consumer into buying your product — you can only interest them.”
The takeaway is simple yet profound: facts may inform, but stories persuade. Emotion isn’t a distraction from climate action; it’s the driver of it.
5. Fear Doesn’t Motivate — Belonging Does
Across sessions, one insight rang true: fear doesn’t motivate, belonging does. The future of climate action won’t be built on guilt or sacrifice, but on shared ownership and joy in creating something better together.
Jon Foley of Project Drawdown, for example, offered a striking reminder: one-third of climate change stems from our food systems, yet food solutions receive less than 3% of global climate funding. His call to action was simple but powerful: we need science, strategy, and stories.
The science is clear, and the strategies exist. What’s missing are the stories that make these solutions personal: farmers rebuilding soil health, families eating better, and communities restoring water quality.
At COPx Causeway, Hunter Lovins reframed the movement’s tone entirely: “As environmentalists, we’ve been a somber lot. We need to throw a better party.” COPx inspires everybody to take action on climate and do one thing. The event coincides with the launch of www.causewayimpact.com - an initiative from Newday impact investing that seeks to democratize investing and donating so that ordinary people can take part, proving that finance and fun don’t have to live in separate worlds.
6. From New York to the Heartland
New York Climate Week showcased the pace of global innovation, but the real test will happen locally, in homes, neighborhoods, and small businesses, as they decide what’s worth investing in.
At Marshall Sustainability, that’s where we work: helping communities connect the dots between comfort, cost, and climate. Whether it’s a heat pump in Colorado or a regenerative pilot in Kansas City, change accelerates when people see themselves in the story.
The future isn’t just something to comply with; it’s something to co-create. And as this Climate Week reminded us, systems may set the stage, but stories move people to act.
