Beyond ambition: Leadership observations from Climate Week NYC

Climate Week NYC 2026 (Climate Week) reinforced the scale of the infrastructure, energy and climate challenges facing organizations today. Participants were candid about the significance of uncertainty, affordability pressures, resource constraints and competing demands shaping investment decisions.

The week also demonstrated a strong willingness to tackle these challenges through collaboration and practical problem-solving.

Daniel Socha, vice president of sustainability and climate at WSP, and Craig Connelly, vice president of business transformation, energy and innovation at WSP, offer their key takeaways from Climate Week.

What stood out to you most across all of the conversations you had at Climate Week this year?

Daniel Socha: What struck me most was that the conversation about action and implementation moved a level deeper. We hear “ambition to action” all the time, to the point that it can start to feel like a cliché, but this year, I felt like there was real substance behind it. People were getting down to brass tacks and talking about what it actually takes to solve these problems.

There was also a more explicit recognition that we’re not dealing with climate change in isolation. Climate challenges are interconnected with issues like growing energy demand, aging infrastructure and geopolitics. Most sustainability practitioners have long known this, but given the state of the world, the discussion around these interconnections was much more at the forefront.

Craig Connelly: A common thread across many of the conversations I had was the need to better connect technical expertise with stakeholders and decision makers. One question that continued to come up was: How do we help advance understanding and communication between these groups?

When communication is unclear, whether it's about the value or impact of a project, it makes everything more challenging. For example, there is generally broad support for resilient and reliable infrastructure, but building agreement around the trade-off between those attributes is much harder to achieve.

We tend not to think about the value of reliable or resilient electricity until the power goes out and takes a while to restore. Suddenly, we all have an opinion about how quickly the power should be fixed. Any interruption feels too long. In that instance, the value of reliability becomes very clear.

There is a real opportunity right now to bring more clarity to conversations and help decision makers and stakeholders better understand the trade-offs behind these decisions.

Climate Week brought together leaders from different industries, sectors and areas of expertise. Were there any common challenges or priorities that emerged across those conversations?

Craig: There was a shared focus on how to move critical infrastructure projects forward amid uncertainty. Policy and regulatory uncertainty remain a challenge, but there was also significant discussion about the growing role states can play in planning and implementation.

At the same time, we’re facing a supply chain reality that previous generations of infrastructure planners didn’t necessarily have to consider. Around the world, there is growing demand to build many of the same things at the same time. That means competing for transformers, switchgear, steel, copper and other critical equipment and materials, sometimes against buyers with a very different willingness to pay. These pressures raise important questions about affordability, equitable access and how limited resources are allocated across communities and industries.

There was also broad recognition that addressing these challenges will require a combination of large-scale infrastructure investments and smaller, everyday improvements that collectively move the industry forward. A common conclusion was that partnerships can help weather uncertainty and identify a more consistent path forward.

Daniel: Stakeholders are looking for proof points. People were asking: What actually worked? What's the difference between a successful pilot project and something that can truly scale? I heard people asking each other very real questions about how solutions translate across organizations of different sizes and circumstances.

There’s a sense that the most significant climate and sustainability challenges are too large for any one organization to solve alone, so that willingness to openly share what’s working, and what we’ve learned along the way, was really meaningful.

One theme we heard throughout the week was the need to move from ambition to execution. What do organizations need to focus on to turn plans into action?

Daniel: Some of the conversations I heard started to challenge conventional thinking and practices around impact measurements. Notably, many of the conversations addressed this core tension: You don’t want to measure yourself to death, but you also can’t make good decisions without the right information.

What I heard this year was a focus on finding a more practical middle ground. Organizations are prepping their data to be better positioned to translate sustainability goals into practical, measurable action, not just for the sake of disclosure or some interesting dashboard. To truly make step-level changes, organizations need to commit the necessary resources, develop genuine governance and accountability structures and spend more time acting on ambitions.

Craig: In many cases, our clients are already making investments and moving projects forward. A central challenge right now is maintaining that momentum while there is so much uncertainty in the market. Nobody has a crystal ball that can see into the future, and nobody wants to invest in an asset that could become stranded for the next 20 years.

So the question becomes: How do we create enough certainty for organizations to keep making those long-term decisions with confidence? 

Were there any perspectives, ideas or examples shared during the week that left you particularly optimistic about the road ahead?

Daniel: What left me most optimistic was seeing examples of collaboration happening in places you might not immediately associate with Climate Week. We brought together three clients from Denmark representing different parts of the fisheries and aquaculture value chain. Hearing them talk about the progress they’d made by working together was a great example of what collaboration can look like in practice. It was a powerful reminder that meaningful change happens when stakeholders work across traditional boundaries and align around shared goals. 

I was also genuinely impressed by our early-career professionals. Some came to events to participate, observe or learn, and then afterward they'd share incredibly thoughtful observations that were sometimes more impactful than the sessions themselves. Seeing that level of curiosity and passion made me excited about where this work is headed.

Craig: I was encouraged by the strong commitment to partnership and collaboration that emerged throughout the week. Even in the face of significant challenges, leaders were eager to share perspectives, learn from one another and work toward common goals.

Our energy executive workshop was a great example. We had decision-makers from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions spending several hours in a room together, comparing notes and talking candidly about how they’re navigating these challenges. That doesn’t happen every day.

The fact that these leaders are showing up and making time for these collaborative conversations tells me they’re serious about finding ways to move forward together.

As organizations look beyond Climate Week and back to the realities of day-to-day business, what is one message or action you’d encourage leaders to take with them?

Craig: Climate Week brought together passionate people and organizations that are eager to collaborate and solve complex challenges. Now we have the opportunity to follow through and keep showing up.

We need to continue these conversations and build lasting relationships that turn that energy into next steps. This is our best opportunity to sustain momentum now and into the future.

Daniel: My advice to leaders is to look beyond their own organizations and actively engage with a broader network of stakeholders.

One of the distinct aspects of Climate Week is that it isn’t really a conference. It’s hundreds of different events and conversations happening across the city, involving people who approach these issues from completely different directions. In some ways, the structure of Climate Week is a good reflection of the challenges we’re trying to solve. They’re not neat and tidy either.

That’s why it’s so important to get outside your own organization, go into other rooms, meet different people and understand how all these pieces of the system fit together.