Why we need to talk about climate — and why a dedicated week matters

In a moment when parts of politics are stepping back from climate commitments, weakening rules, or treating the issue as negotiable, continuing to speak clearly about climate becomes even more important.

That is why the call to “Don’t stop talking about climate,” used by London Climate Action Week, matters so much. Padova Climate Action Week was created in this same spirit: to keep climate in public conversation, to defend space for facts and collective responsibility, and to push back against denial, minimization, and indifference. When climate disappears from public debate, it becomes easier to ignore in public action.

A dedicated week matters because it creates the space and visibility that climate often struggles to find in everyday public debate. It brings together different voices, perspectives, and sectors under a shared horizon, helping conversations that are often fragmented begin to connect.

This is especially important because climate change is global in scale, but local in its effects. The crisis crosses borders, markets, and supply chains, yet it is experienced in concrete ways by specific communities. That is why, from its very first edition, Padova Climate Action Week has opened its doors to international participants and English-language events. In an age of deep interconnection, the way we understand problems — and the way we address them — cannot stop at our borders.

As Nick Mabey, Founder and Chair of London Climate Action Week, put it:

“It’s fantastic to welcome Padova Climate Action Week to the expanding global network of Climate Action Weeks, which are empowering people everywhere to drive climate action from the ground up. We look forward to collaborating to make climate safety for all a reality over the next decade.”

We are proud, as Padova Climate Action Week, to be part of this growing family of Climate Action Weeks — and proud to keep the conversation going, even when larger forces try to drown it out. Because keeping climate in public conversation is also part of keeping climate action alive.