SBTN at Climate Week NYC 2026
Date:
20 September 2026 – 27 September 2026
Location:
New York City
Showcasing credible corporate action for nature
Climate Week NYC is taking place between September 20-27, at various locations throughout New York City, USA. As a whole, it will focus on “the energy, the impact, and the action that we drive together.”
The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) will be participating in Climate Week NYC, demonstrating the growing momentum around the leading target-setting approach for corporate action on nature.
Step Up for Nature: From Corporate Ambition to Science-Based Action
On September 23 from 10:30am-12:00pm, SBTN will host a side event to the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit at the Marriott Marquis to showcase the latest corporate progress toward science-based targets for nature. Hosted in collaboration with the Accountability Accelerator, this event will highlight senior leaders’ insights through a corporate panel featuring H&M, Kirin Holdings, Novo Nordisk, and Musholm A/S. It will also build momentum toward SBTN’s Science-Based Targets for Nature 2.0 – updated methods and guidance grounded in the best available science, with expanded target coverage and a clearer, more practical route from assessment to action.
Register your interest in attending here.
Connect with SBTN at Climate Week NYC
- Interested in collaborating on an event? Reach out to communications@sbtnetwork.org to explore opportunities – our leadership team will be in the city, and we’re open to additional speaking opportunities.
- Wondering where you can find us during the week? Find a summary of other events we’re collaborating on or speaking at below. We’ll update this page regularly as additional events are confirmed.
Events Schedule
Tuesday, September 22
Turning Nature Ambition into Action: Driving Informed Business Decisions Across Value Chains
🕥 9:00–11:00 AM ET
📍One Penn Plaza, New York City
🏡Host: WSP
Organizations are making significant progress in understanding their impacts and dependencies on nature. The next challenge is turning that knowledge into meaningful action.
Join WSP during New York Climate Week for an interactive discussion on how leading companies are moving beyond disclosure to strengthen resilience, create business value and accelerate nature-positive outcomes.
Hear firsthand lessons from pioneering SBTN Ocean target-setting pilots and engage with peers on practical approaches to advancing nature strategies across business operations and value chains.
Climate and Nature: Building an Integrated Pathway to 1.5°C: A UN Global Compact Leaders Summit session
🕥 10:30 – 12:30 ET
📍Marriott Marquis (Royale Room)
🏡Host: UN Global Compact
The UN Secretary-General has emphasized the importance of maintaining the 1.5°C threshold by the end of the century, requiring rapid emission reductions and a shift to clean energy. This session will explore the private sector’s role in achieving these goals through target setting and solution implementation focused on climate and nature. Participants will learn about strategies to engage value chains and financial actors to accelerate action. This session is for business leaders addressing climate and nature-related issues, aiming to set science-based targets, and for leaders with target-setting experience seeking to enhance corporate action and engage stakeholders.
Speakers include SBTN’s CEO Erin Billman, and SBTi’s CEO David Kennedy.
Wednesday, September 23
Step Up for Nature: From Corporate Ambition to Science-Based Action
🕥 10:30 – 12:00 ET
📍Marriott Marquis (Playwright Ballroom)
🏡Host: Science Based Targets Network, in collaboration with the Accountability Accelerator
As a side event to the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, SBTN’s main event will bring together stakeholders from across business, finance, civil society, funders and media to:
- Highlight leading companies moving from nature ambition toward science-based action, including insights from the forthcoming corporate report Step Up for Nature: The Business Case for Science-Based Targets
- Demonstrate growing corporate momentum, from companies stepping up their ambition to those completing validated milestones, setting science-based targets for nature and moving toward implementation.
- Build momentum toward Science-Based Targets for Nature 2.0 – updated methods and guidance coming later this year are grounded in the best available science, with expanded target coverage and a clearer, more practical route from assessment to action.
The event will feature a panel of senior sustainability leaders from companies applying the SBTN target-setting approach. Corporate speakers will include:
- H&M Group: Leyla Ertur, Chief Sustainability Officer
- Kirin Holdings: Hiroaki Takaoka, Executive Officer of CSV (Creating Shared Value)
- Musholm A/S: Teis Volstrup, Head of Public Affairs and Communication
- Novo Nordisk: Dorethe Nielsen, Global Head of Environmental Responsibility
Registrations received by September 15, 2026, will be prioritized.
From Risk to Opportunity: Science-Based Targets for the Ocean
🕥 15:45-16:45 ET
📍WWF’s Panda House
🏡Host: WWF & SBTN Ocean Hub
Ocean health forms the foundation of a stable climate and economy. For companies across the ocean economy, credible ocean targets are increasingly a source of business value rather than just an environmental commitment. Setting science-based targets helps companies surface nature-related risks early, turn emerging disclosure frameworks like TNFD and CSRD into strategic assets, and strengthen their social license to operate. It also opens access to green and sustainability-linked financing as capital markets increasingly price in nature risk.
Building on the groundbreaking science-based guidance for the seafood sector launched last year, this event will showcase a new effort to develop holistic, science-based targets covering all ocean sectors, including offshore wind, tourism, shipping, and ports. The discussion will explore why credible, science-aligned action is essential for safeguarding ocean health and highlight companies already working to address their impacts and dependencies on nature.
Attendees will gain insight into how businesses can align with global standards increasingly demanded by governments, financial institutions, and civil society, and how early movers will have the chance to shape the next generation of ocean guidance and position themselves as leaders in the transition to a nature-positive ocean economy.
SBTN’s Erin Billman will provide opening remarks for this event.
Driving Freshwater Resilience for Climate-Threatened River Basins
🕥 17:00-18:00 ET + Reception 18:00-20:00 ET
📍WWF’s Panda House
🏡Host: WWF, the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, and SBTN
Around the world, river basins are increasingly under threat from drought, climate change, overuse, and other factors. It is critical for communities, companies, and other major water users to understand the state of their water security and identify the major risks to their supply.
Join WWF, the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), for the launch of the Freshwater Basin Threshold Tool, a new resource designed to help companies translate water commitments into meaningful action across their supply chains.
Speakers from WWF, SBTN, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the private sector will discuss the future of science-based water stewardship and the partnerships, data, and tools needed to drive action at scale.
SBTN’s Varsha Vijay will provide opening remarks for this event.
