An arborist climbs a palm tree in a sunny and green tropical forest

Climate Week 2025

September 21 through 27, 2025

Join NYBG during Climate Week NYC 2025—where we bring together the community and experts to harness the power of plants for climate solutions.

Kick off Climate Week with the NYBG 5k Fun Run on Sunday, September 21 and forge a deeper connection with nature. On Wednesday, September 24, Jennifer Bernstein, CEO and The William C. Steere Sr. President of the New York Botanical Garden, will welcome guests for our annual lecture. The keynote address will be given by Carlos Nobre, Earth System Scientist at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, followed by a panel discussion on Rooted in Resilience: Harness Nature for Climate Solutions with prominent scientists and practitioners, both programs of the Nurturing Nature Initiative. After the program, spend the day at NYBG, eat local at the weekly Farmers Market, and engage with other organizations in the environmental space during our partner showcase.

On Wednesday, September 24, NYBG is offering free grounds admission for all Climate Week events; advanced registration for the keynote and panel discussion is required.

September 24; 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Ross Hall

The keynote address and panel discussion are open to the public and free to attend; advanced registration is required.

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Keynote – 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Discussion Panel – 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
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A group of four people runs through a sunny green forest

NYBG 5K Fun Run

Sunday, September 21; 8 a.m.

Kicking off NYC Climate Week, this leisurely 3.1-mile course takes you past some of the Garden’s most gorgeous scenery, including the Maureen K. Chilton Azalea Garden and the Judy and Michael Steinhardt Maple Collection, plus historic landmarks like the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, Mertz Building, and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Your participation directly supports our work here and around the world to protect biodiversity and develop plant-based solutions to climate change.

After your run, join us on Daffodil Hill for festivities including meet-and-greets with NYBG experts to learn about their important work across a range of disciplines. And don’t forget to grab your NYBG 5K Fun Run T-shirt before you set off to enjoy the rest of your day at the Garden!

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An aerial view of a misty tropical rain forest

The Amazon Nears a Tipping Point: How Nature-Based Solutions Are Urgently Needed
Featuring Carlos Nobre

Wednesday, September 24; 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and known as the “lungs of the world,” but it faces unprecedented environmental impacts from climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather that could transform the lush rainforest into a dry savannah.

A large portion of the southern Amazon is already very close to a tipping point: the dry season is now four to five weeks lengthier than in the last 45 years, resulting in increased tree mortality. The southeastern forest has become a carbon source, producing more carbon than it captures. However, reversing deforestation and biodiversity loss through nature-based solutions can prevent the Amazon from reaching this tipping point. Speaker Carlos Nobre will address how zero deforestation, large-scale forest restoration, a new socio-bioeconomy of healthy standing forests and flowing rivers, and a combination of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ knowledge with science for innovative technologies, are urgently needed solutions to this crisis.

About the Speaker

Carlos Nobre is an Earth Systems scientist from Brazil. He graduated in Electronics Engineering from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), Brazil, in 1974 and obtained a Ph.D. in Meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, in 1983. He dedicated his scientific career mostly to Amazonian and climate science at Brazil’s National Institutes of Amazonian Research (INPA) and Space Research (INPE). He was Program Scientist of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). He is a former National Secretary of R&D of Ministry of Science and Technology of Brazil and former President of the Federal Agency for Post-Graduate Education (CAPES). He is foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences, member of the Brazilian Academy of Science and of the World Academy of Science. He was awarded the Volvo Environmental Prize in 2016, the Von Humboldt Medal of EGU in 2010 and was one of the authors of IPCC AR4 awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He is presently a senior researcher with the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo and the creator of the Amazon Third Way-Amazonia 4.0 Initiative. He is also co-chair of Science Panel for Amazon.

Red and yellow trees from the Native Plant Garden

Rooted in Resilience: Harnessing Nature for Climate Solutions

The 4th Annual Thomas E. Lovejoy, Ph.D., and Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D., Panel

Wednesday, September 24; 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

A panel of distinguished scientists and practitioners will discuss what can be done to halt biodiversity loss and enhance climate resilience through ecological restoration and conservation. Panel discussion will be moderated by Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados, NYBG’s Chief Science Officer and Dean of Science.

Featuring:

Wilson Ramírez, Manager of the Center for Nature-Based Solutions at the Humboldt Institute

María Uriarte, Chair of Ecology, Evolution and Evolutionary Biology (E3B) at Columbia University

Alicia Montalvo, Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity Manager at the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF)

Susan Cook-Patton, Senior Forest Restoration Scientist at The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

A top-down view of green peas and red raspberries in individual containers

Picnic at the NYBG Farmers Market

Wednesday, September 24; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit and enjoy a variety of locally grown produce, fresh baked goods, and other specialty items at the NYBG Farmers Market.

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Science Open House: Mertz Library & Steere Herbarium

Wednesday, September 24; 12:30–3 p.m.

Take a deeper look into NYBG’s unparalleled collections during Science Open House. Explore the Mertz Library’s outstanding collections that represent over a century of commitment to botanical and environmental research. In the Steere Herbarium, get a behind-the-scenes look at the treasures held in this museum of preserved plants to see historical collections made by Charles Darwin and other scientists, learn how the collections are made, and their integral role in scientific research and conservation.

A brightly lit laboratory setting full of scientific equipment, framed by large windows in view of green trees and foliage.

NYBG Science

Read more about NYBG Science’s ongoing work around the biodiversity and climate crises, and how conserving and restoring plant diversity is essential for climate resilience.

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Climate Week 2025

Register for the Keynote and Panel

NYBG 5K Fun Run

The Amazon Nears a Tipping Point: How Nature-Based Solutions Are Urgently NeededFeaturing Carlos Nobre

About the Speaker

Rooted in Resilience: Harnessing Nature for Climate Solutions

Picnic at the NYBG Farmers Market

Science Open House: Mertz Library & Steere Herbarium

NYBG Science

Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to know about all things NYBG

The Amazon Nears a Tipping Point: How Nature-Based Solutions Are Urgently Needed
Featuring Carlos Nobre