{"id":8746,"date":"2026-09-24T13:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T13:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/?p=8746"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:31:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:31:47","slug":"climate-crunch-affordability-and-ac-trump-ai-and-9-other-hot-takes-from-nycw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/climate-action\/climate-crunch-affordability-and-ac-trump-ai-and-9-other-hot-takes-from-nycw\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Crunch: Affordability and AC trump AI\u2014and 9 other hot takes from NYCW"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClimate Crunch: Affordability and AC trump AI\u2014and 9 other hot takes from NYCW\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tTransition to clean energy has shielded the world from a major energy crisis\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2794 Toronto hosts its own climate event<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2794 A major carbon capture project broke ground in Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2794 Get ready for more Canadian climate policies before year-end<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Live from New York\u2026it\u2019s Climate Week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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While the outgoing U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres fired off his final climate warning at the annual UN General Assembly, a few kilometres away many VCs, engineers, thinkers and doers were grinding on with the task of energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s New York Climate Week is not only about climate resilience\u2014it\u2019s also testing the resilience of policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs. In some (almost therapy) sessions there was some venting, even talk of despair. But for the most part, there seemed an air of inevitability around energy transition. The question remains how to get there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With more than 1,000 events, it\u2019s impossible to find a neat narrative that ties the whole New York Climate Week jamboree together. But here is some of what we overheard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Affordability was the buzziest of buzzwords.<\/strong> Utility bill backlash is now a midterm election issue in the U.S. In play are 15 public utility commission seats and 36 governor races. Big Tech may be facing a very different regulatory regime in the space of two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Energy transition shielded us from what one major think tank labelled as the \u201cworld\u2019s biggest energy crisis.\u201d<\/strong> It still hurts to pay at the pump, yes, but wind and solar have cushioned the U.S.-Iran war shock that disrupted the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. That\u2019s because The Age of Power is upon us.<\/strong> Electro-tech and infotech costs will keep falling, performance will keep improving and deployment will keep rising, according to a new report by Ember, a clean energy consultancy. A new IEA analysis published this week notes that electricity could cost-effectively meet 33% of the world\u2019s final energy consumption needs by 2035, up from 23% today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. But supply chains are not moving fast enough.<\/strong> Limited supply of renewables was named the top barrier in markets around the world, especially South Korea, Singapore, and Japan, according to the RE100 Annual Disclosure Report. Grid bottlenecks and red tape are also restricting procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Air conditioning\u2014not AI\u2014will be the biggest drain on power.<\/strong> This was a common refrain at several events. With heat-related deaths on the rise, air-conditioning is a life and death issue, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore\u2019s group, The Climate Reality Group\u2019s new report states. Meeting all this demand requires grid capacity to increase by at least 30% by 2035, the International Energy Agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. There is now an overlap between climate and defence ministers\u2019 portfolios.<\/strong> Ukraine, Iran, wildfires, flash floods, water scarcity, and glacier meltdowns mean security and environmental ministers are sharing the same files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.Canada is emerging as a place to raise funding.<\/strong> As federal funding faces some pullback in the U.S., grant consultants are increasingly eyeing Canada as a place to raise funding for companies, drawn by the various funds, incentives and subsidies on offer.

8. Global rules have never been so far apart.<\/strong> Companies are now juggling conflicting environmental standards across Canada, the U.S. and Europe, compelling global players to maintain different metrics, rules and audits to meet different requirements. While rules were never harmonized in the past, they were never at odds either (especially between the U.S. and Europe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Good intentions are having bad outcomes.<\/strong> Several EU policies that bar certain sectors from tapping sustainability bonds are hurting their progress. That\u2019s true for many fossil fuel companies in emerging economies that need financing, expertise and technical know-how to enter the global financing mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Climate types are getting creative.<\/strong> Storytelling is being sharpened to illustrate the impact of government policy, corporate action and consumer behaviour on everyday folks. Dozens of new climate-focused film screenings, eco-documentaries and workshops are aimed at sharpening narratives. Funding and grants are also on offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Signals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n