Defining Adaptation Versus Building Practical Solutions

In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we explore why adaptation and resilience are taking center stage in climate conversations ahead of COP30, the UN's upcoming climate change conference.

We talk to Jeff Gitterman, CEO of Gitterman Asset Management and partner at Gitterman Wealth Management. He explains why adaptation was a big focus during Climate Week NYC in 2025, and where he sees future opportunities to invest in resilience and sustainable infrastructure.

"Every room I was in, everywhere I went around the city, there was a focus around adaptation and resilience like I've never seen before," Jeff tells us.

We also sit down with Alan Brookes, the Chairman and CEO of sustainable design, engineering and consulting firm Arcadis. He explains how the firm's projects worldwide build resilience to climate change while also accounting for the needs of communities and incorporating nature-based solutions — for example, building parks that also provide flood and storm protection.

"Cities need to be more innovative in their approaches," Alan says. "Otherwise, you're just going to build walls around every city, which is not what people want to see."

We conducted these interviews during Climate Week NYC at The Nest Climate Campus, where the All Things Sustainable podcast was an official media partner.

Read S&P Global's key takeaways from Climate Week NYC: 5 Climate Week NYC takeaways setting the scene for decision-making in 2026 | S&P Global

Listen to our interview with CDP CEO Sherry Madera: Water, water everywhere in Climate Week NYC conversations | S&P Global

Read a report from S&P Global Commodity Insights about what to expect from COP30: COP30: Climate governance at a crossroads | S&P Global

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1 and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.

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