Thursday 24 September 2026
For the Ocean
Sport, culture and the changing ocean — the closing night of Climate Week NYC
WSA, Water Street, New York
THE NAT
Event Summary
An evening for the ocean
On the closing night of Climate Week NYC 2026, THE NAT and its co-hosts brought the week’s ocean community together at WSA on Water Street, at the water’s edge in Lower Manhattan.
Rather than one more conference session, it was designed as an evening: a reception, a candid panel on sport, culture and the ocean, and live music — looking ahead to Oceans 2026 in Western Australia this December.
The Central Question
How can we use the culture of sport to protect the natural world?
Four Themes from the Night
- 01
The ocean has never been more on the agenda.
Guests described a Climate Week where ocean and nature finance moved to the centre of the conversation.
- 02
Culture moves people where panels can’t.
Sport, art and music reach people from the heart — and that is what builds a movement.
- 03
Unlikely partnerships are the engine.
Athletes, investors, artists and scientists in one room is the model — and it is only the beginning.
- 04
Capital needs a reason to care.
Investors are working out how to make ocean solutions pay. What THE NAT adds, in one guest’s words, is “the beauty and the hope.”
The Evening in Brief
The Panel — Sport, Culture and the Changing Ocean
- Ryan BellissimoModerator · Founder & CEO, Progression and Oceans 2026
- Rachael TillyThree-time WSL Longboard World Champion
- Bill TaiCo-founder & Board Chairman, ACTAI Global
- Ximena CaminosFounder, REEFLINE
“Take care of nature as if your life depends on it — because it does.”
Co-hosted by: THE NAT, Progression, Oceans 2026, REEFLINE, ACTAI Global & ImpactAssets · Music: Prazul