Super pollutants — short-lived but highly potent greenhouse gases such as methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons—took centre stage in policy and industry discussions at New York Climate Week 2025.

This is according to Carbon Herald, which characterised the event, attended by more than 100,000 delegates as “more optimistic” than many expected.

New York Climate Week, organised annually by the Climate Group, took place from September 21–28 in New York City. Sponsorship was provided by a diverse range of companies including Gold Partners Saint-Gobain, Roland Berger, and Edison International, Silver Partners Equinix and KPMG, and Thematic Session Partners Microsoft and Potential Energy.

This year’s theme, Power On, highlighted progress across clean energy, climate finance, technology, green jobs, and climate justice, and demonstrated the solutions already taking shape.

In terms of super pollutants specifically, Carbon Herald reported expert opinion that curbing these emissions could “deliver rapid climate benefits, buying time for longer-term carbon reduction strategies.” In an invitation-only roundtable organised by XPRIZE in collaboration with Spark Climate Solutions, panelists “emphasized the role of agriculture, energy, and waste sectors in driving methane abatement, while new technologies for leak detection and capture drew attention from investors.”

Carbon Herald also reported on specific actions announced during Climate Week. These include the Global Methane Hub and Kazakhstan signing an MoU to work together on planning and monitoring methane emissions. Kazakhstan is a large natural gas producer with an aging infrastructure.

Download an overview of the event highlights here.