New York to create climate innovation hub

New York City aims to create thousands of ‘green collar’ jobs and will grow up to 150 green technology start-ups and businesses over 10 years through its first ever Green Economy Action Plan.

A Climate Innovation Hub will form part of the plan which lays out how the city will invest in jobs and sectors to combat climate change, and train and position New Yorkers.

The city is expected to benefit from nearly 400,000 projected ‘green-collar’ jobs by 2040.

“Our city didn’t recover the nearly 1 million jobs we lost during the pandemic and reach a new private-sector job high by looking backward–we did it by building an economy of the future,” said the mayor, Eric Adams. “Our [plan] will harness the growth of a new kind of industrial revolution and give New Yorkers the tools they need to build a resilient and prosperous city and thrive in our future-focused economy.”

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) will invest up to US$100 million to develop the hub with the aim of generating US$2.6 billion in economic impact and creating 600 jobs–while providing local workforce training and job placement, particularly for the local Sunset Park community which continues to be an emerging hub for climate innovation.

The innovation hub will be hosted at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and will be joined by the Trust for Governors Island and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to create a green economy ecosystem across three campuses that aims to support 5,000 new permanent jobs, educate and train 2,100 New Yorkers, and generate US$55-billion of economic impact.

The hub and plan build on the city’s intent to invest in future-focused industries and create a “harbour of the future” with job and innovation hubs along the East River.

Other key features of the plan include:

• Creating green training facilities in every borough: NYCTalent–in partnership with other city agencies, as well as private partners — will develop a workforce training facility to train New Yorkers for green-collar jobs.
• Activating public sites for electric vehicle charging: NYCEDC is activating two acres of land near JFK airport to create the largest EV charging facility in the city, with 65 public EV chargers including 12 rapid ones.
• Activating a harbour climate collaborative: The Brooklyn Navy Yard, NYCEDC, and the Trust for Governors Island are collectively investing US$725 million to build a green economy ecosystem linked by NYC Ferry across New York Harbour.
• Creating tax incentives for battery storage: NYCEDC will utilise New York City’s Industrial Development Agency tax incentives to activate 500 Megawatts (MW) of battery storage capacity and support other green economy uses.

NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball said: “This first-of-its-kind plan lays out a series of commitments and strategies that will bolster economic growth, create thousands of jobs, encourage public-private partnerships, and ensure a just transition to a green economy that all New Yorkers can contribute to and benefit from,”

Image: NYC