Meet Gator Halpern, Co-founder and President of Coral Vita, who’s scaling coral restoration to combat ocean warming. By cultivating resilient corals in high-tech farms, Coral Vita restores damaged reefs in the Bahamas and beyond, safeguarding biodiversity and supporting local economies.
Women are at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis, bringing unique perspectives to drive equity and resilience. This feature highlights eight inspiring leaders proving that inclusive climate action is essential in our race to a better world.
Meet Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, whose work is transforming how sports and culture can contribute to a more sustainable world. As the environmental adviser to the New York Yankees, NBA, and Broadway, Allen is helping iconic institutions engage millions in the climate conversation, setting new standards for environmental action in these influential spaces.
Meet Rajesh Shah, Managing Trustee of VIKAS Centre for Development, championing community-led climate resilience through the Great Green Wall of Gujarat. Rajesh’s initiative empowers marginalized communities to restore coastal ecosystems while creating sustainable livelihoods.
Over the last 20-years, my sustainability career has intersected three industries at the centre of climate action: policy, finance, and technology. Much like a team, these sectors work together, each with their unique strengths to drive climate progress at scale. But before I entered the field professionally, I began learning about sustainability and environmental protection […]
Meet Deepa Lama, Co-founder and President of Kalpavaatika Society Nepal, who is championing urban sustainability by transforming kitchen waste into compost and using rooftops for farming in Kathmandu. Her project, “Enhancing Urban Sustainability through Nature-based Solutions,” empowers over 500 community members to address waste management and food security challenges by composting organic waste and cultivating rooftop gardens.
Meet Nduka Miracle, Co-founder and Director at Kitovu Technology Company, who’s transforming Africa’s agriculture sector through climate-smart solutions for smallholder farmers. Kitovu’s innovations empower farmers to boost productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, and cut emissions – paving the way for resilient, sustainable farming across Africa.
Meet Zeinaba Narabene, President of Réseau des Jeunes Sahéliens pour le Climat au Mali (RJSCLIM), who is leading the Green Schools Project to embed environmental education in schools across Mali. Through her GreenKids initiative, Zeinaba is empowering young students to understand and act on climate issues in their communities.
Meet Angela Chaudhuri, CEO & Chief Catalyst of global health organization, Swasti, who is redefining how communities, especially the most vulnerable, respond to climate-driven health risks through real-time data insights.
Meet Miguel A. Torres, President of Familia Torres, who’s redefining winemaking with bold climate action – from slashing CO₂ emissions to powering vineyards sustainably, he’s proving that great wine and a healthy planet go hand in hand.
Meet Franny Collingham, founder of Wild Clouds, a sustainable fashion brand dedicated to reimagining design and production with sustainability at its core. Driven by a commitment to ethical practices, Franny ensures every detail – from compostable fabrics to plastic-free trims – reflects her vision of thoughtful, low-impact fashion.
Meet Impact Maker Ragy Ramadan Ahmed Shehata, Founder & CEO of NoorNation in Cairo, Egypt. Discover his journey to deliver innovative climate solutions like LifeBox, bringing clean energy and safe water to underserved communities across Africa.
Meet Shelly Jarina Kerketta, who’s empowering rural India through clean energy. With her project, the Clean Energy-based Micro Enterprise Development project, Shelly’s helping build resilient businesses, enhance agricultural productivity, and reduce reliance on harmful fuels like kerosene.
Meet Khaled Noby Mohamed, Executive Director of Nature Conservation Egypt (NCE), where he’s working to balance renewable energy growth with biodiversity protection in Egypt. As renewable energy projects expand, Khaled is leading critical efforts to safeguard Egypt’s unique ecosystems, from migratory birds to vulnerable native species.
Meet Gilberto Ribeiro, Partner and CIO of VOX Capital, leading climate finance innovations for sustainable energy and land use in Brazil. Gilberto’s work mobilizes funds to address Brazil’s environmental challenges, from deforestation to sustainable agriculture.
Meet Lynn von Koch-Liebert, Head of Climate, Energy & Infrastructure at Lendistry, who is championing equitable access to climate finance. Lynn is dedicated to ensuring underserved communities and small businesses have the capital to lead in the clean energy transition.
Meet Ramil Azmammadov, CEO of Dr. Agro, who’s empowering Azerbaijani farmers to make data-driven decisions for sustainable yields. Dr. Agro’s platform equips farmers with tools for crop planning, budgeting, disease alerts, and climate insights – helping them navigate challenges and increase productivity.
Meet Pablo Castellanos Ramelli, Co-founder and COO of BATx, who’s transforming energy sustainability in Latin America by giving EV batteries a second life. Through repair, refurbishment, and repurposing, his initiative is reducing waste, creating economic opportunities, and advancing a circular economy in Colombia and beyond.
Meet Fany Kuiru, General Coordinator of COICA and the first woman to lead the Amazon’s largest Indigenous coalition. Fany spearheaded the Amazon for Life Fund to empower Indigenous communities by supporting sustainable, self-determined projects across the Amazon Basin.
Meet Michael Kakande, Founder & Chairperson of Resilient40 and champion for climate justice, mobilizing African voices to drive action at local and global levels. Through Resilient40 and initiatives like the African Citizen’s Climate Caravan, Michael is amplifying African youth and community perspectives in the global climate conversation.
Meet Helmy Abouleish, CEO of SEKEM, promoting biodynamic farming for sustainable agriculture in Egypt. Through the Economy of Love (EoL) standard, Helmy is transforming agriculture, supporting smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable practices while generating new income streams through carbon credits.
Cities, Indigenous groups, businesses, and organizations across regions are advancing inclusive, nature-positive climate solutions to help make a net-zero future achievable by 2050, according to a new report by the Marrakech Partnership, UN Climate Change and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.
Meet Sellah Bogonko, Co-Founder & CEO of Jacob’s Ladder Africa who’s on a mission to empower Africa’s youth through green jobs.
Driving the transition to cleaner, greener transport solutions in Bangladesh
Brian Unsted, Lead Specialist for Environmental Sustainability at Liberty 2 Degrees, shares his journey from working in finance to driving sustainability in South Africa’s real estate sector. Learn how L2D is cutting carbon emissions, transforming waste management, and leveraging solar energy to achieve ambitious net zero goals, and why Brian believes that embracing change is key to overcoming the challenges of climate action.
With the global Biodiversity Conference, COP 16, getting underway, we recently spoke with Manuel Pulgar-Vidal on the origins of the action agenda, Manuel’s hopes for COP 16, the synergies between climate and nature, and the potential to engage all stakeholders in the decisive decade.
As countries prepare to share their post-2030 climate commitments, so-called ‘Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs)’, we spoke to Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40, the global network of nearly 100 mayors from the world’s leading cities united in confronting the climate crisis, on the massive potential for regions and cities to boost the ambition and effectiveness of […]
Jit Bhattacharya, co-founder of Kenya-based electric vehicle technology company, BasiGo BasiGo is an electric vehicle technology and financing company dedicated to introducing electric bus services in sub-Saharan Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the company provides state-of-the-art, electric buses, along with charging and maintenance services for city bus operators. We spoke to BasiGo’s co-founder, Silicon-Valley innovator, […]
An interview with Professor Thomas Hale, University of Oxford Dr Thomas Hale is a Professor at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where he focuses on how societies can manage global problems effectively and fairly, with a particular emphasis on environmental, economic and health issues. To mark the 4th anniversary of the Race […]
The Climate Champions Team is proud to introduce its fourth cohort of ambitious and stubbornly optimistic Youth Fellows. These seven dynamic young professionals — aged 20 to 29 and hailing from seven countries across four continents — will work within the team supporting the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP28 and COP29, H.E Razan […]
As part of a new series to support the Ocean Breakthroughs, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions and the Edges of Earth expedition explore how a community is adapting to and combating the impacts of climate change in the capital of Sri Lanka. The Edges of Earth team had the opportunity to spend two weeks living alongside Hafsa Jamel (pictured), learning about their work supporting local nature-based solutions that aim to mitigate climate challenges in their home country.
In the six months since a global pledge to transition away from fossil fuels was made in the UAE, the devastating reality of climate change has continued to hit hard across the globe. From ferocious heat across Asia to fatal floods in Kenya, Brazil and Afghanistan, people around the world are paying with their lives, […]
Bogolo Kenewendo is a global leader in Pan-African development, specialising in sustainable trade and investment, and accelerating innovation across the continent. Until recently, Bogolo was the Special Advisor to the UN Climate Change High-Level Climate Champions, and Africa Director, where she played a leading role in implementing the Champions’ plans for accelerating ambition and action […]
The Kadin Net Zero Hub, an initiative by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia), has taken a significant step towards supporting Indonesian businesses in their transition to net zero emissions by joining the Race to Zero campaign as an Accelerator. Race to Zero is the largest campaign, rallying non-State actors to […]
To mark this year’s Earth Day theme of Plastics Vs Planet, Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder, A Plastic Planet & Plastic Health Council, imagines a post-plastic world, abundant with innovation, where true regenerative circularity is achieved.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities live on and manage more than half of the world’s land, yet they only have legal ownership of 10% of these territories. Robust Indigenous and local land rights are vital for managing forests, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biodiversity, and improving livelihoods. Nonette Royo, Executive Director, Tenure Facility, has […]
Discover how global healthcare insurer and provider and Race to Zero member, Bupa, is aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Partner: YAPU Solutions Implementer: COK Sodality Co-operative Credit Union Country & Region: Jamaica, Caribbean SAA Impact Systems: Human Settlements Impact / Beneficiaries: Members of COK Sodality Co-operative Credit Union, which includes over 275,000 individuals, encompassing Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households across Jamaica. Jamaica, an island nation celebrated for its breathtaking landscapes […]
National Government Participants of the Global Cooling Pledge have committed to work together to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors by at least 68 percent globally relative to 2022 levels by 2050, consistent with limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C.
David Howlett, Climate Champions’ Senior Advisor, pays tribute to his friend and colleague Professor Saleemul Huq, Ambassador for the High-Level Champions and towering figure in the field of climate justice.
The goal of “first movers and doers” in the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit is accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy, armed with not just pledges, but credible actions, policies and plans to deliver climate justice in line with the Secretary General’s Acceleration Agenda.
The Climate Champions Team (CCT), in support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions (HLCs) at Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW) are showcasing the potential of young people to drive climate action. Here we highlight the experiences of two Climate Champions’ Youth Fellows Shreya K.C, Tracking Youth Fellow and Chaeyoung Hyun, Energy Policy Youth Fellow, whose […]
Over 200 million people live in coastal areas in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), representing about 30% of the region’s population. They depend on healthy ocean ecosystems, especially coastal ecosystems, for their livelihoods. The region is home to a substantial portion of the world’s marine biodiversity. For instance, the LAC region is a biodiversity […]
Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, announces support to advance women’s representation and gender parity at the upcoming climate summit.
This year’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week, opens in Riyadh today with a strong call for decisive, inclusive change and accelerated progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.
This week, the Building Bridges conference in Geneva brought together over 2000 delegates to discuss the importance of shaping a global economic model aligned with the needs of sustainable and just societies already confronting the negative impacts of climate change.
The High-Level Champions, together with the COP27 and COP28 Presidencies, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) yesterday hosted a regional platform for climate projects in Santiago to highlight the significant role private finance can play in addressing climate change including investing in regional, investable, shovel-ready projects.
Joyce Kamande explains how Safi Organics uses technology to decentralize fertilizer production in Kenya, serving 10,000 smallholder farmers by leveraging local resources and establishing production plants in villages.
Ampersand is an e-mobility venture operating in Rwanda and Kenya, providing 2-wheeled electric vehicles and EV charging infrastructure. Brady Grimes explains how Ampersand is revolutionizing the motorcycle taxi market in East Africa. Watch it here
Phoenix Edison is a project in Nigeria, aiming to provide a 24 megawatt (MW) waste-to-power plant processing 270,000 tons of solid waste annually. Spotlighting this, the Climate Champions are joined by Noble Ekajeh.
Ahead of COP27 in November 2022, the incoming Egyptian Presidency of COP27, the United Nations Regional Commissions, and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP26 and COP27 are jointly organising a series of regional forums to accelerate financial flows to the projects needed to reduce emissions, build climate resilience, and advance the 2030 Sustainable […]
