This post is authored by Prerana Tirodkar, an energy and sustainability professional with deep expertise in decarbonization strategy, carbon reporting, and ESG data management. As part of Tango’s Energy and Sustainability Managed Services team, she helps organizations operationalize their net-zero goals through technology solutions that measure GHG emissions, streamline reporting, and drive enterprise-level climate action. A Columbia University graduate in Sustainability Management, Pre combines technical acumen with a passion for collaboration—advancing the data-driven transition toward a low-carbon future.
What I love about Climate Week in New York is the ambition. The energy. The sheer density of people who use the word decarbonization in a sentence and understand its importance. It’s an intoxicating reminder of how global, complex, and urgent this work really is. But amid the ambition and announcements, this year stood out for something else: a strong focus on solutions.
Across panels, no one was in denial about the policy gaps or the uncertainty of what comes next. Instead, the emphasis was on clear enablers of progress: data accuracy, financial transparency, and collaboration. Or as one panelist memorably put it: “We need to eat that frog before leapfrogging.”
Facing the Gaps Before We Rush Ahead
That line stuck with me. Because before we can leap to innovation and transformation, we have to address the gaps right in front of us, from data quality, infrastructure, to the ability to measure and report on impact with confidence.
In conversations about building performance standards, California’s latest climate regulations, or the compounding costs of inaction, the theme was clear: good intentions aren’t enough. The real progress will come from operationalizing change at scale and doing it with rigor.
From Morality to Materiality
The climate conversation has shifted. Companies are no longer just talking about doing good, they’re demanding clear financial business cases.
For years, the discussion centered on moral imperatives and our responsibility to future generations. Those arguments still matter. But what’s emerging now is different: practical, grounded in hard numbers and quarterly reports, and potentially just as transformative.
Chief sustainability officers and CFOs are finally speaking the same language. We’ve reached a turning point from climate mitigation to adaptation, from “let’s stop climate change” to “it’s here, how do we protect our business?” It may sound cynical, but it might be the most honest climate conversation we’ve had in years.
The questions have changed: What’s the ROI of climate resilience? How do we calculate the cost of delay, quarter by quarter?
Research shows that climate adaptation investments can deliver returns of $2 to $43 for every dollar spent. This isn’t just risk mitigation; it’s value creation, operational efficiency and competitive advantage in a climate-constrained world.
Industries are pivoting toward a balanced approach: mitigation addresses long-term emissions reduction, while adaptation builds resilience to impacts already locked into the system. Both are essential. Both require capital. And increasingly, both are viewed as drivers of enterprise value.
Companies are applying systems thinking, acknowledging constraints in infrastructure and supply chains while forging partnerships to develop scalable solutions. Leading organizations are also insulating their climate strategies from geopolitical uncertainty and policy fluctuations—not by abandoning advocacy, but by building resilience that works regardless of the political environment.
The reason is simple: Climate physics doesn’t recognize electoral cycles. Extreme weather, supply chain disruptions and asset vulnerability are business realities that transcend policy frameworks. Forward-thinking organizations are embedding climate resilience into core operations—not as compliance, but as a fundamental driver of long-term value.
This year’s Climate Week highlighted this evolution. After years of aspirational rhetoric, the conversation felt real, messy, imperfect, incremental, driven by unlikely coalitions and hard-won consensus. It wasn’t always inspiring. But it was honest. And right now, honesty is what the climate community needs.
AI, Data, and the Power Equation
Another theme that emerged: AI’s double-edged role. On one hand, AI offers enormous potential to accelerate climate research and give stakeholders the information that matters most. On the other hand, AI’s growing energy demand. Data centers in the United States alone already account for nearly half of global consumption, raising questions about power, water, and infrastructure. One analysis estimates the U.S. accounts for ~45% of global data-center energy consumption, and utilities forecast ~38 GW of new power by 2028 to meet rising load from data centers, electrification, and industry.
U.S. energy agencies are likewise warning that data centers could rise from ~4.4% of U.S. electricity (2023) to ~6.7–12% by 2030, underscoring the importance of efficiency, 24/7 clean power procurement, and water stewardship.
This balancing act is already pushing utilities, policymakers, and businesses toward new solutions, from energy-efficient computing to renewed interest in nuclear as a reliable zero-carbon option. Signals from the market are converging and solutions are arising: earlier this summer, GRESB and iMasons announced a strategic partnership to develop the first global sustainability benchmark tailored to the unique needs and operations of the fast-growing data center asset class. The challenge is real, but so is the opportunity to integrate AI responsibly into the climate agenda, especially across climate-critical industries.
A Climate Renaissance
For me, the biggest takeaway from Climate Week 2025 is that we’ve moved past denial and distraction. We’ve moved from aspiration to action, where companies are building resilient systems that are not influenced by geopolitical headwinds and are deeply grounded in business outcomes and ROI.
And while the challenges are complex, the privilege of working in this field is undeniable. Few topics bring together technologists, business leaders, bankers, regulators, academics, and NGOs all at once. Climate Week reminded me of that privilege and the urgency to act with focus, transparency, and resilience.
At Tango, we believe the power of knowing leads to the impact of acting. Climate Week made it clear: we can all agree that the time for action is now.
