On Treason and Peaceful Protest: A Pragmatist’s View of Climate Week

On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, President Trump spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Convening for its 80^th General Assembly (UNGA), the day that the President spoke happened to also fall during Climate Week in NY. The President’s pointed speech was unapologetically critical of the UN and was marked by insult and warning for member nations. The President was just as crass when he brought up climate change, referring to it as the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” He went on to warn the UNGA that if nations did not get “away from this green scam,” their countries would fail. Listen, and make no mistake – words do matter.

As Climate Week begins to wrap, I have seen many social media posts made by friends and colleagues that acknowledge but outright dismiss the President’s remarks on climate change as nonsense. The idiom, “put your money where your mouth is,” comes top of mind as a common rebuttal. As the President denounces climate science and clean tech solutions, billions of dollars from a myriad of investment sources continue to flow into the clean tech sector including direct investment for the deployment of large-scale renewables, utility-scale battery storage, direct carbon capture and storage, building and transportation electrification, and so on.

The advance of clean tech and pursuit of sustainable solutions is not an asterisk demarking a momentary lapse of judgement or stupidity on human history. Rather, it represents ingenuity, growth, innovation, and a spirited alignment to create lasting peace and prosperity. I agree, the President’s remarks represent more “noisy oscillation” in an already noisy world. But I believe we cannot dismiss the President’s comments as the ridiculous drivel of a man driven by spite, revenge, and ratings. Yes, the flow of capital in markets does speak truth to power, to an extent. But simultaneously, each day, the perception of truth, justice, peace, and prosperity is being stretched, twisted, and distorted.  

The 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Convened in NYC during Climate Week 2025

Those of us that have been beacons of hope, illuminating innovative paths for change cannot presume capital markets will always prevail. There is a huge division and rapidly widening chasm in the U.S., and around the world, between those that have dire needs and are literally fighting for survival versus those that have the luxury of redefining markets and driving change. I’m fortunate. Many of us are quite fortunate.

But we live in a world where healthcare is being made so expensive that it becomes inaccessible to a large majority of those who need it most. We live in a time when the benefits of decarbonization and a clean energy are needed more than ever, yet average energy consumes simply cannot afford to make their regular on-time payments amid a volatile and inflationary economy. Thus, like it or not, the attention (and the vote and pocketbook) of citizens and consumers, the very fabric that stands up the economy, is up for grabs. So make no mistake – words definitely matter. So I’m walking away from Climate Week with an equal sense of optimism and concern. This is not a time to dismiss noisemakers and presume capital will continue to flow fluidly to build a sustainable economy. This is a time to stay sharp, vigilant, and pragmatic. This is a time to double down on bridging the gap between those citizens and consumers that feel disenfranchised, alone, and uncertain about their future.

Climate Week is important. Capital will flow to innovation. Change will happen. But we must never rest on our laurels or become complacent – particularly in this moment of time where economic warfare has been manufactured as a mechanism for societal control. Thus, it is both healthy and necessary to step outside, even momentarily, of the self-reinforcing echo chamber of Climate Week, to put the ideals of its purpose in context with a rapidly changing world. This post provides one pragmatist’s perspective on this.

Treason or Peaceful Protest?

The day following the President’s UNGA speech I had the pleasure of participating on a Climate Leadership Summit panel, “Scaling Solutions for a Net Zero Future,” sponsored by the Opal Group. As I arrived in NYC Wednesday morning, it dawned on me that this year’s Climate Week represented, perhaps more so than prior years, a clear-eyed willful open act of peaceful protest, free speech, and democracy in action. There I was, along with fellow panelists and participants, essentially perpetuating the greatest con job the world has ever seen. We were co-conspirators, temporarily creating treason, or in simpler terms stated by the President – acting like just plain “stupid people” Again, words matter.

Fueled by a Starbucks, I stoically spewed some of my stupidity among a room of climate pragmatists. Speaking on behalf of my latest book, Planet Pragmatism, I chose to impart insight and perspective on why we need not a corporate business case for sustainability (and subsequently decarbonization), but a more compelling “why,” or connection among and between civil society and other sectors, for addressing converging needs that are inhibiting the pursuit of prosperity.  The reception was terrific and the panel dialog was invigorating. The panelists and audience members were incredible – some of the most gifted, intelligent, kind, and gracious humans I’ve had the pleasure of engaging with in some time. The passionate panel and audience reminded me of my personal why.

In business meetings and settings, often the over-used question is asked, “what keeps you up at night?” Participating in this Climate Week panel and with the UNGA and the ever-changing geopolitical rhetoric as a backdrop, my answer was as crystal clear as ever. What keeps me up at night is the same thing that motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. That which makes my mind have racing thoughts and occasional anxiety and night terrors is that which also stimulates every-being of my spirit and soul to begin each day anew, in pursuit of truth, justice, and greater prosperity for all. My two boys. Underlying that sentiment is unbridled joy, the promise of peace, unconditional love, and the instinctive knowing that the future will be bright.   

Right now, society is feeling enormous pressure across all facets of our daily life. The convergence of global conflict, authoritarian governments, intensified human rights abuses, extreme poverty, disease, hunger, mass migration of people, economic insecurity, national security, and pervasive racism are weighing down the collective ambition of our generation. This is hindering our capacity and potential to pursue a more prosperous future for our children, and across our global society. The solution is, however, ever-present and always within grasp.

Our Freedom and Fate Are Elemental to Prosperity - Right Now, they are Up for Grabs

Climate Week is About Enhancing Quality of Life – aka, The New Path to Prosperity

Underlying these and other external threats and risks is the human quotient, that is, how does a pragmatic sustainability posture yield a higher quality of life, for all citizens? The embodied trust, respect, and dignity that we have with each other remains the root cause (and more importantly, solution) of the elements that positively or negatively shape the human experience and existence. Today too many people are wandering through a perennial fog, bewildered and unaware of where they are going or what to expect next. In defense of those of us that are immersed within the fog, an unsettled world only manifests and perpetuates the conditions necessary for producing the dense fog. We may not be entirely lost, but we are not completely confident that the road will lead to clarity either.

One does not need a degree in rocket science (or a company that builds rockets), to understand that “we the people,” are our own best ally or worse enemy. Our future is only as good as our resolve to effectively address the “human quotient” by establishing societal and institutional trust, pursuing (and achieving) nuclear (and biological and chemical arm) disarmament, and global peace. We need less “gotcha” moments and soundbites, and a clear path out of the fog toward principled prosperity. The backdrop to Climate Week was the 80^th UNGA where much of the President’s polarizing antics stole the show. Beneath the headlines however were real diplomats and real people, working on real world needs and solutions aligned with global security and peacebuilding, human trafficking and human rights, climate risk and human migration, education and innovation, economic development and trade, and so much more.

In the climate space, for example, we need to get real specific about how decarbonization can lead to tangible quality of life improvements (i.e., affordability, comfort, safety and security, improved health, economic opportunity, etc.) for citizens and consumers, today. Terms like Net Zero and decarbonization represent important concepts and goals. Let’s say, “those that know, know.” But these terms are essentially industry lingo and do not mean much to everyday citizens and consumers.

We must move beyond overstating vague ideals for Net Zero for Net Zero sake and instead, drive personalized dialog, person-by-person, community-by-community, toward defining quotient for dramatically improving quality of life. That is, how can decarbonization, energy efficiency, fuel switching, or any other pathway for adopting clean and renewable energy effectively lead to an immediate better quality of life for the individual?

Rightfully so, the ethical, moral, just, and sustainable deployment of AI was a topic of many Climate Week discussions. While many conversations focused on reducing the impact of data centers and computing, others touched on the underlying intention of AI, and whether the demand for new use cases actually leads to improving the human condition. The question is important and gets to the root cause of whether or not we, as a society, will repeat mistakes of the past (i.e., keep doing stupid things on purpose), or actually evolve our technological future in step with principles for planet pragmatism - where our values for improving quality of life are intrinsically aligned and built into the DNA of any computing infrastructure that is built, AI code that is enabled, and use cases which are deployed. Building powerplants to power AI just "because we can and that is what the demand is calling for" is not the answer. We need to balance the right AI use cases, that uplift humanity, with a well balanced sustainable AI infrastructure solution.

Currently, a huge gap that exists between citizens and consumers that are navigating their life through the furor of fog” and fighting for survival, and the broadly stated corporate and non-government organization (NGO) driven ideals of a Net Zero future. Inherently, corporations and NGOs understand the need and have, like Microsoft, Google, GM, Walmart, and Vodafone, defined a business case to get there. But so long as leaders of the free world weaponize climate language, no business plan, no matter how well defined and developed, will be effective at driving societal change.

Citizens and consumer need to not only be a part of the conversation, they need to be owners of the decision and the business model – capable of both exercising free will and as a benefactor of positive financial performance (or alternatively, subject to losses should they occur). Sustainability and its derivations will only become commonplace when societal trust exceeds distrust (in government, corporations, NGOs, foreign adversaries, etc.), enabling the fog to lift.

We’ve got some building to do! Trust, anchored by shared values and principles, remains the building block to a strong societal foundation  

Rebuilding societal trust means that we need to deliberately underwrite our intentions, behaviors, and actions with strong and shared values, including principles for planet pragmatism. We must then build these values into the very DNA of all our decisions. Within a framework of Planet Pragmatism, this means taking a preventive, predictive, and proactive posture grounded in pragmatism and fused by trust, moral clarity, integrity, accountability, and dignity for all living things. By underwriting our decisions with these principles for planet pragmatism, we reconstitute our purpose, codify our constitution, and allow humanity to pursue a better future with resolve.

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