TOP 10 Most Read Thought Leaders of 2023 in Climate Change

Discover also our 2024 ranking of the Most Read Thought Leaders in the Climate Change, or enjoy our Thought Leader rankings of 2023 on Carbon, Social Responsibility, ESG, Energy and Overall. Explore how this year’s leaders compare to the most influential climate change voices of 2022!

We are proud to present the Most Read Sustainability Thought Leaders on the topic of Climate Change worldwide, as recognized by illuminem, the leading platform in sustainability information and the largest expert network in the industry with 200,000+ loyal users and 1,300+ engaged Thought Leaders.

The individuals listed below are exemplary leaders and experts in the field of climate action, demonstrating the crucial role of a global community dedicated to sustainability. This community includes business leaders, academics, and policy-makers, all working towards a common objective: spreading knowledge to empower the sustainable transition. 

In an era marked by the undeniable impacts of climate change, the dissemination of accurate and actionable information is imperative. The following authors stand at the forefront of this challenge facilitating the conversation on the most important issue of our era. 

Please help us congratulate the TOP 10 Sustainability Thought Leaders in Climate Change!

1️⃣ Jeremy Bentham - Co-Chair of the World Energy Council
Country: United Kingdom
Most-Read Thought Piece: Want a healthy planet? Unleash women
Profile: Jeremy Bentham is the Co-Chair of the World Energy Council and Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He led the internationally renowned Shell Scenarios team for over fifteen years, advising company leadership and senior external policy-makers on energy transitions and strategic direction. He has deep experience in framing and making investment and policy choices in the face of radical uncertainties.

2️⃣ Douglas Flynn - Director of the Gorongosa Restoration Project, fmr. Africa Lead for Revalue Nature
Country: Mozambique
Most-Read Thought Piece: Ecological collapse is a crisis of values, not value
Profile: Douglas Flynn is the CEO of the Gorongosa Restoration Project, aiming to protect biodiversity across 3 million hectares of Africa’s Great Rift Valley. He has also worked as the Africa Lead for Revalue, as a Member of the Steering Group for The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, and as an Advisor for Vertree. Douglas forms strategic alliances to catalyse the seamless flow of financing into African Protected Areas.

3️⃣ Praveen Gupta - Advisory Board Member, Sanctuary Asia and fmr. MD & CEO, Raheja QBE General Insurance Co.
Country: India
Most-Read Thought Piece: An interview with Mark Trexler: “Climate change poses the ultimate game theory problem…”
Profile: Praveen Gupta is an Advisory Board Member for Sanctuary Asia, a leading biodiversity conservation foundation and India's leading and best-loved magazine in its genre. He was previously Managing Director and CEO of Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Ltd. Praveen is a certified Chartered Insurer and holds Fellowships from the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK) and the Insurance Institute of India. He frequently shares his knowledge and insights at leading national and international conferences and renowned publications, authoring more than 250 papers.

4️⃣ Antoine Rostand - President & Co-Founder, Kayrros and fmr. President & Founder, Schlumberger Business Consulting
Country: France
Most-Read Thought Piece: In the era of ‘global boiling’, geospatial data has a starring role to play
Profile: Antoine is the President and co-founder of Kayrros, an innovative intelligence company that leverages satellite imagery and machine learning to offer environmental insights. Antoine serves as a Board Member of the Kearney Energy Transition Institute, previously known as the Schlumberger Energy Institute, established in 2007. Before launching Kayrros, Antoine founded Schlumberger Business Consulting, the largest management consulting firm specialising in energy.

5️⃣ Arvea Marieni - Director, Regenerative Society Foundation
Country: Italy
Most-Read Thought Piece: The Green Deal is Europe’s future
Profile: Arvea Marieni is the Technical Director for the Regenerative Society Foundation, Co-Chaired by US Economist Jeffrey Sachs, and Italian entrepreneur Andrea Illy. As a strategy adviser, climate policy expert, and innovation manager, she specialises in EU-China environmental cooperation and serves as a European Commission expert and as a consultant with the UNFCCC. In 2021 and 2022, she was appointed as a jury member of the European Innovation Procurement Awards (EUIPA).

6️⃣ Alessio Terzi - Economist for the European Commission, Professor at SciencePo and HEC Paris
Country: Belgium
Most-Read Thought Piece: The power and limits of radical activism against climate change
Profile: Alessio Terzi is one of Europe’s top economists. He works at the European Commission and as a professor for SciencePo, and HEC Paris. He is the author of Growth for Good: Reshaping Capitalism to Save Humanity from Climate Catastrophe, a Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year. He previously worked at the European Central Bank, the Scottish Parliament, and other academic institutions such as Harvard University and the LSE.

7️⃣ Patricia Scotland - Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations
Country: United Kingdom and Dominica
Most-Read Thought Piece: We must shift the global financing system in the age of climate change
Profile: Her Excellency, The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is the current Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the first woman ever to hold this position. She is a preeminent Dominica-British politician, serving several positions in the government such as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland. She is also a former member of the House of Lords. 

8️⃣ Diego Balverde - Economist at the European Central Bank, Advisory Member of the Council of Foreign Trade at The World Bank
Country: Argentina
Most-Read Thought Piece: Green finance: navigating risks and embracing sustainability
Profile: Dr. Diego Balverde is an Economist at the European Central Bank, specialising in climate finance, and an Advisory Member of the Council of Foreign Trade at The World Bank. Diego is very active on the international sustainability stage having attended COP27 as a Circular Economy for Climate Change specialist, and COP28 as a specialist on Climate Finance. He was also a member of the Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force for last year’s G20 Conference in India.

9️⃣ Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana - Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific
Country: Indonesia
Most-Read Thought Piece: Race to zero in Asia and the Pacific: our hopes in the climate fight
Profile: Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She also serves on the Governing Board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). She is Indonesia’s former State Minister for National Development Planning from 2009 to 2014.

🔟 Richard Klein - Lead researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, fmr. Director of the Global Center on Adaptation
Country: Germany
Most-Read Thought Piece: A just transition for climate adaptation
Profile: Richard Klein is the Lead Researcher and policy advisor on international climate risk and adaptation at the Stockholm Environment Institute. He was an architect of Adaptation Without Borders—a global partnership working to strengthen systemic resilience to cross-border climate impacts. Previously he was a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and North Star, Director of Science and Innovation for the Global Center on Adaptation.

To the Most Read Sustainability Thought Leaders of the Year in Climate Change, our heartfelt congratulations on your well-deserved recognition. Your commitment to excellence has set a high standard for us all, and we are excited to see the continued growth and innovation that will undoubtedly define the future of sustainability initiatives in 2024.

If you enjoyed this ranking make sure to also visit our Top 10 Most Read Thought Leaders of the year.

Stay tuned to our platform and social media for our category-specific rankings that will be released in the upcoming weeks! In the meantime, please enjoy our dedicated Climate Change page.

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