Climate Change Track

March 12-15, 2024

The Climate Change track explores the most promising ideas on mitigating (or sometimes living with) the effects of global warming and in-depth coverage of the consequences of unpredictable weather patterns and rising ocean levels.

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(L-R) Alexis Ohanian, Rostam Reifschneider, Maya Penn, Lissie Garvin – Featured Session: Empowering the Next Generation to Build a Better Future – SXSW 2023 – Photo by Justin Lotak

About

Each year, SXSW calls upon its creative global community to help identify innovative new ideas and the visionaries behind them. The majority of Conference sessions are sourced and voted on by the SX community from PanelPicker®, along with input from SXSW Staff and the PanelPicker Evaluator Committee.

Climate Change Track Access: Platinum and Interactive Badges receive primary access to sessions in this track. Other badges receive secondary line access.

Explore all Climate Change track sessions on the SXSW Schedule.

Stay tuned for programming announcements throughout the season.

About the SXSW Conference

The SXSW Conference provides an opportunity for global professionals at every level to participate, network, and advance their careers. Explore all 24 tracks of programming across a variety of formats including Keynotes, Featured Speakers, panels, workshops, and more.

2024 Climate Change Track Schedule

Browse hundreds of Conference sessions across all 24 tracks. Customize your must-see list of 2024 events on the SXSW Schedule.

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Photo by Ann Alva Wieding

The Largest Cleanup in History

Plastic pollution in the world's oceans is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time, impacting nearly 700 marine species. Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans, primarily from rivers. And the plastic that’s afloat within the oceans isn’t going away by itself. The Ocean Cleanup develops advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal by taking a two-pronged approach: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean.

In 2013, Boyan Slat (then aged 18) dropped out of his aerospace engineering study to work full-time on this ambitious project. In this candid conversation, Boyan will look back at the successes (and failures) he has encountered on his mission, along with the role technology and innovation can play in solving global problems.