LA Climate Tech Cities: March 24 - 31
The Carbon World Conference is this week! + Blue economy, Tech for good, and more!
Hi friends,
It’s another week of living through an increasingly uncertain time for climate action in the U.S. However, we hope that connection and gathering with some passionate folks can help you stay optimistic and emboldened to keep up the good work toward climate solutions. As always, we have some exciting events and opportunities to share for this beautiful week ahead.
Some of our top picks for this week include:
From Tuesday through Thursday, stop by the 🌎 North American Carbon World Conference 2025 join the largest gathering of climate professionals in North America to discuss the most pressing issues in climate policy and carbon markets
On Wednesday, learn about and discuss blue economy workforce development at 🌊Tides of Transformation: Advancing workforce solutions in the blue economy
This Thursday, join Cleantech Open for their 🖥 Cleantech Open Kick-Off Event as they share the information about this year's upcoming 2025 Accelerator Program - link in the Opportunities section of this week’s newsletter (due April 13)
On Friday, harness the power of innovation for climate solutions at 🌐Tech as a Force for Good
As always, scroll down for the full list of upcoming events!
With gratitude,
Maëlys, Niqat, Raiven & The Climate Tech Cities Team
This Week’s Events
🌎 North American Carbon World Conference 2025: Tue-Thu, Mar 25 -27
🏫 Green your school: Opportunities, Fund, Resources: Wed, Mar 26
👥 Convening: Los Angeles Region: Wed, Mar 26
🙋🏻♀️ Women Shaping Cleantech: Weathering the Storm, Powering the Future: Wed, Mar 26
🌊 Tides of Transformation: Advancing workforce solutions in the blue economy: Wed, Mar 26
🔬 Bridging the gap from research to impact: A discussion on embodied carbon solutions: Thu, Mar 27
🍸 Coolest in LA Gala: Thu, Mar 27
🦋 Monarchs & Milkweed: Creating Native Plant Habitats: Thu, Mar 27
🛢 From Smoke to Solutions: Neighborhood Oil Drilling and Climate Disasters in LA: Thu, Mar 27
🖥 Cleantech Open Kick-Off Event: Thu, Mar 27
🌐 Tech as a Force for Good: Fri, Mar 28
🌾 Native Plant Festival: Sat, Mar 29
Read on for more details about this week’s happenings.
Opportunities
✏️ What Design Can Do Accelerator (Due March 31)
🌐 2025 Global Innovation Challenge by Venture For ClimateTech (Due March 31)
💻 The Compute for Climate Fellowship (Due April 6)
🔋 Cleantech Open Accelerator (Due April 13)
🌱 2025 Ray of Hope Accelerator | The Biomimicry Institute (Due April 25)
✨ Urban Future Prize Competition (Due April 28)
🔌 Google AI For Energy Startup Accelerator (Due June 30)
👉 Would you like to feature a grant opportunity, fellowship application, or incubation program in the LA Climate Tech Cities newsletter? Reach out to us with the info.
Upcoming Events
🥕 Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems: Thu, Apr 3
🚶🏻♀️Los Cerritos Wetlands Nature Walk - Heron Hike: Sat, Apr 5
✍🏻 A Garden of Verses Poetry Festival: Sat, Apr 5
🌼 South Bay Poppy Day Garden Tour: Sun, Apr 6
📅 LA Climate Week: April 6-13
📊 Climate Case Study Workshop: Fact or Fiction? Evaluating Corporate Sustainability Through Disclosed Data: Tue, Apr 8
🍸 The Carbonauts Sustainability Cocktails: Thu, Apr 10
⚡ AltaSea Open House: Urban Renewable Energy Summit: Sat, Apr 12
🚣🏻♀️ Kayak Tours of Los Cerritos Wetlands: Sat, Apr 12
🌿 Equitable Recovery and Resilience Luskin Summit: Wed, Apr 16
⚡️ Open Circuit Live: Wed, Apr 16
🌸 Poppy Days Spring Sale: April 18
🏖️ April Nothin But Sand Beach Clean Up: Sat, Apr 19
🌍 California Climate Policy Summit 2025: Tue, Apr 22
🚛 The Journey Ahead: Decarbonizing Industry and Heavy Transport in California: Tue, Apr 22
🧶 SoCal Circular Textiles Summit: April 22-27
🌊 IGNITE22 Global Tech Showcase: Thu, May 1
This Week’s Events in Details
🌎 North American Carbon World Conference 2025
When: Tuesday, March 25 to Wednesday, March 27
Where: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles - 404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071
The North American Carbon World (NACW) conference addresses the most pressing issues in climate policy and carbon markets to the largest gathering of climate professionals in North America. Since 2001, NACW has featured comprehensive and up-to-date information and analysis, key thought-leaders advancing innovative climate solutions, and the best networking opportunities with colleagues in the business, government, nonprofit, and academic sectors.
For 22 years, NACW has been North America’s premier event to learn, collaborate, and network on carbon markets and climate policy. NACW 2025 will present the content, community, and connections for successfully navigating the low-carbon landscape and advancing market-based climate policies and mechanisms.
🏫 Green your school: Opportunities, Fund, Resources
When: Wednesday, March 26 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Where: Online
Join the USGBC-CA Green Schools Committee for a campus greening webinar designed for schools and school districts.
The webinar will highlight resource opportunities and funding support available to help school districts achieve their sustainability goals.
Topics include: implementing recycling and composting programs, reducing extreme heat, and using biophilic design principles to reduce operational costs and improve whole body wellness for staff and students.
👥 Convening: Los Angeles Region
When: Wednesday, March 26 from 8:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: CSU Long Beach Campus, Pointe Conference Center - 1250 North Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840
The California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) will host a Catalyst Convening for the Los Angeles Region Wednesday, March 26 at the CSU Long Beach Campus.
Representatives from local and regional governments, tribal governments, community-based organizations, philanthropic foundations, and institutions of higher education are invited - alongside key state agencies - to coordinate on the region’s energy, land use, climate barriers, and solutions.
🙋🏻♀️ Women Shaping Cleantech: Weathering the Storm, Powering the Future
When: Wednesday, March 26 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: Arc Boat Company - 2100 195th Street Torrance, CA 90501
In celebration of Women's History Month, LACI and Arc invite you to Women Shaping Cleantech: Weathering the Storm, Powering the Future in Torrance, CA—a night dedicated to connection and exploring how we can prepare ourselves and future generations for a stronger tomorrow.
What to Expect:
Keynote by Tracy Quinn, CEO of Heal the Bay
Engaging Breakout Discussions – Dive into topics like; Leading with Resilience, “Storm-proofing” Your Career in Cleantech, Pass the Power: The Value of Mentorship
🌊 Tides of Transformation: Advancing workforce solutions in the blue economy
When: Wednesday, March 26 from 8:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center - 425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
This dynamic gathering will focus on advancing workforce development, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and strengthening connections among participants from industry, government, NGOs and higher education—including the California Community Colleges, CSU's, UC's, and private institutions. This event offers a unique platform for collaboration, innovation and knowledge exchange to address the pressing environmental challenges and opportunities ahead while shaping the future of the blue economy.
🔬 Bridging the gap from research to impact: A discussion on embodied carbon solutions
When: Thursday, March 27 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Where: Grimshaw, 432 Colyton St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Join CLF-LA and USC Public Exchange for a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of translating embodied carbon research from academia to real-world applications in the built environment, presented by Prof. David Gerber, Julia Sulzer, and Sophie Pennetier.
🍸 Coolest in LA Gala
When: Thursday, March 27 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Where: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County - 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007
More than 400 leaders, community members, and advocates will come together to celebrate local climate achievements, and Climate Resolve’s 15-year anniversary, for one unforgettable evening.
🦋 Monarchs & Milkweed: Creating Native Plant Habitats
When: Thursday, March 27 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: Online
Western monarch butterflies are endangered! These migratory monarchs have dropped from millions of individuals in the 1980s to just a few thousand in 2021. Join us in understanding about their life cycle and needs in this informative class.
Learn about the unique connection between the western population of monarchs and California native plants, and how to attract and nurture these iconic butterflies. Learn which native milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are best for the caterpillars and which flowering plants provide nectar for adults — with tips on butterfly garden design and maintenance. A great class for knowledge building and gardening in your home or community space!
🛢 From Smoke to Solutions: Neighborhood Oil Drilling and Climate Disasters in LA
When: Thursday, March 27 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Where: Online
Join us to learn the connection between local oil drilling and the recent LA wildfires, and about what the LA City Council can do this year to end this toxic practice!
🖥 Cleantech Open Kick-Off Event
When: Thursday, March 27 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Where: Studio One Eleven - 245 East 3rd Street Long Beach, CA 90802
Join Cleantech Open (CTO) as we share the information about this year's upcoming 2025 Accelerator Program! It's our 20th year running! At CTO we are the world's oldest and largest Clean Technology Startup Accelerator. We've had ~2,000 early stage startups successfully graduate our program since 2005. This time of year, we're looking for ambitious and innovative entrepreneurs that are trying to solve some of the world's greatest problems who are looking to grow their business to the next level using our proven curriculum.
🌐 Tech as a Force for Good
When: Friday, March 28 from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Where: Santa Monica College Center for Media & Design - 1660 Stewart Street Santa Monica, CA 90404
This event convenes business leaders, policymakers, and innovators committed to leveraging technology to contribute to uplifting . By bringing together B Corps, responsible businesses, and emerging leaders, this event seeks to co-create real-world solutions that ensure technology becomes a driver of resilience, not just disruption.
🌾 Native Plant Festival
When: Saturday, March 29 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Where: California Botanic Garden - 1500 N College Avenue, Claremont CA 91711
Explore, learn, and connect at the Native Plant Festival at California Botanic Garden! This free, family-friendly event celebrates California’s incredible biodiversity and highlights how we can all make a difference to protect and restore the landscapes around us. Join dozens of regional nonprofits, landscapers, and agencies for info on native plant landscaping, wildlands conservation and restoration, crafts, music, storytime, food, and more!