San Diego Climate Week, a collection of grassroots and sponsored events all related to the environment, saw several events canceled this week amid a sweltering heat wave that is breaking records for local fall temperatures.
“The irony wasn’t lost on any of us,” wrote Sam Hodgson, a spokesman for the volunteer-run week, in an email.
The heat wave isn’t the only environmental crisis bearing down on San Diego right now. The region is scrambling to prepare for a rare El Niño so intense that there isn’t yet a name for it, and untreated sewage continues to flow through the Tijuana River, poisoning air along the border and rendering the Pacific Ocean unfit for swimmers. Then there’s the simple everyday threats posed by floods and wildfires throughout the county.
To Erika Rodriguez, who founded the first San Diego Climate Week last year, the heat wave is a “very tangible” example of “what we are honestly facing.”
“We did not expect that coming from October,” she said. “It shows everyone why we need to focus on the climate, because right now this is the coolest summer we’re going to get, unless we do something about it. It’s going to be continuously hot, not just (in) the summer, but now, as we are in October, all year long.”
The week’s anchor events will go on – including a new fire summit on Tuesday and an air summit on Wednesday, coinciding with California Clean Air Day.
Over the weekend, attendees met at a farm in Oceanside for a land summit. Meg Ferrigno, executive director of Barron Creek Farm and co-chair of San Diego Climate Week, said she moved forward despite significant concern over the heat.
“This is the experience, this is our future,” she said in a phone interview. “We need to start talking about what this actually feels like.”
At least two Climate Week events were canceled and another two postponed, which is not unique to San Diego. During London’s Climate Week in June, extreme heat forced the cancellation of an event on extreme heat.
Yet the vast majority will go on. Community partners are throwing more than 200 events associated with Climate Week. Local scientists will present a panel on kelp forest research and chefs offered a seaweed tasting in Encinitas. The vast majority of events are free, and even paid events include some free tickets.
The first-ever Climate Week was held in New York City in 2009, coinciding with the UN General Assembly meeting. It grew to other cities, bringing together activists, technologists, scientists and policymakers. It has also grown internationally, now reaching Australia and Europe.
Rodriguez said she was surprised to see the region did not have one of its own.
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s re-election, which she knew would be a dark time for the climate space, Rodriguez began planning her own version. Others quickly got excited too, with 30 core volunteers spending five months preparing for San Diego’s first Climate Week.
“With Climate Week, it shows a lot of people optimism,” Rodriguez said.
Ferrigno thinks San Diego is uniquely suited to the event.
“We have more biodiversity than anywhere in the continental United States,” she said. “We want to protect that because when we protect that locally, we’re doing something for the entire world.”
Ferrigno had attended other climate weeks but she wanted something different here. San Diego’s edition has an environmental justice focus, for instance, featuring local Indigenous voices on land management and wildfires.
Most importantly, the entire week has a call to action. Last year, it was the Tijuana River sewage crisis. Even though it is not directly this year’s theme, that call to action has been extended due to Measure B, a proposed county sales tax which would allocate funds for river cleanup. A slideshow at every event includes information on voting for Measure B on Nov. 3.
“We need to make change now, and Measure B could provide long-term, sustainable funding to be able to solve that issue,” Ferrigno said. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that we can bring that river back to life.”
This year, all events include calls to “Say No to Offshore Drilling.” The actions include contacting the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management to oppose any leases from oil or gas companies seeking to drill off the California coast.
“That is very unique to San Diego,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll definitely keep that going.”
Organizers also published two guides, on where to shop sustainably and how to vote green.
“Voting is one of the most impactful things that we can do for our climate in the United States,” Ferrigno said. “Besides the personal choices we make, we need to ensure that our larger collective is able to make change, and that comes at the government level, locally and federally.”
San Diego may be late to the game, but its Climate Week has grown quickly since its founding, with the number of events doubling this year.
In addition, it has more backing from government institutions. While elected officials like Mayor Todd Gloria and Council President Joe LaCava attended in 2025, this year a county representative sat on the steering committee and the city and county each put on a number of community events during Climate Week.
The county is handing out mulch and compost as well as DIY Sustainability Toolkits with free LED lightbulbs, weatherstripping and a low-flow showerhead for people in unincorporated areas. City planners will host a forum at the summit to seek public input on an update to the Climate Action Plan.
Climate Week organizers are still hoping for more state and federal buy in. They invited Gov. Gavin Newsom, despite Ferrigno calling him a “barrier” to Tijuana River action.
Newsom initially expressed interest, but declined at the last minute. Instead, he attended New York Climate Week. It was a setback, but not one organizers are unused to, given Trump’s denial of climate change.
Despite these challenges, organizers will not back away from their desire to protect the ocean and mountains. Climate Week attempts to center joy, so that attendees do not fall into despair about their prospects for addressing climate change.
“Certain leaders have tried to divide us and break us, and I think San Diego Climate Week is just standing up to that and saying ‘we will not be broken, we do not need to be torn apart. We can find unity beyond our lines, beyond who we vote for,’” Ferrigno said. “The most basic and simple needs that we have as humans is to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water and eat clean foods.”
Climate Week continues through Thursday. Find a list of events at san-diego.climate-week.org.
