TOP 10 Most-Read Thought Leaders in Green Tech

Discover also our 2026 Rankings of the Most Read Thought Leaders in Business Impact, Carbon, Circularity, Climate Change, Energy, Energy Transition, Environmental Sustainability, ESG, Ethical Governance, Nature, Renewables, Social Responsibility, Sustainable AI, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Finance, and Sustainable Lifestyle. Explore how this year's leaders compare to the most influential Green Tech voices of last year!

illuminem is proud to present the most-read Thought Leaders in Green Tech globally, as recognised by illuminem's ever growing community of 700,000+ readers.

Green tech in 2025 was a sector forced to grow up. The "missing middle" between lab and commercial scale widened, and the AI investment frenzy pulled generalist capital toward other bets. The question facing the field was no longer how fast it could expand, but whether it could prove itself consistently in moving from scientific promise to commercial reality.

Out of that pressure came a quiet reframing. Several voices on this list argued that "climate tech" as a category was giving way to something broader: technology that is simply better, cheaper, and cleaner, judged on performance rather than mission. From seaweed-based packaging to bio-fabricated materials, from impact investing to the role of AI in the climate fight, the voices on this list mapped a sector maturing under fire.

What distinguished Andrea Gori in that conversation was a vantage point spanning the whole field. As founder of illuminem and Europe's only Greentech professor at HEC Paris, he had a particularly busy 2025: named among just fifty Global Impact Makers worldwide by the UN following COP30, representing illuminem on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV's private Vatican summit with the world's largest mining and energy leaders, and taking to the stage in Gloria Benedikt’s seminal play on the future of the planet, End to Begin. His most-read piece made the foundational case that sustainability is not only the right thing to do, but a driver of long-term development.

Joining him on the list, Dawid Hanak, leading expert on net-zero technologies, examines the future of sustainable transport, Jessica Burley of June AI argues that climate tech is dead and green tech is what comes next, and Pierre-Yves Paslier and Rodrigo García González of Earthshot-winning Notpla ask whether seaweed can save us from billions of plastic-lined coffee cups.

Drawn from over 2,500 thought leaders publishing on illuminem Voices, the ranking below reflects the voices that shaped how the green tech conversation evolved in 2025. Please join us in congratulating the Thought Leaders of the Year in Green Tech, and every voice contributing to this vital global debate on illuminem.

1️⃣ Andrea Gori - Founder and Chief Earth Officer of illuminem
Country: Italy 🇮🇹
Most-Read Thought Piece: Sustainability is not only the right thing to do, but it also fosters long-term development
Profile: Andrea Gori is an entrepreneur & global expert in sustainability, green tech, and energy transition. He is the founder & "Chief Earth Officer" (i.e. a CEO on a mission for our planet) of illuminem, and prof. of Greentech at HEC Paris (see program). Previously, he served as BCG's Global Green Champion, delivering sustainability projects around the world. He has been awarded one of the United Nations' Global Impact Makers ("civil society leaders making the change we need to see"), Italy's Leading Innovators, and Angel List's Top Startups in Europe. His latest TEDx is "the most-watched talk in Italian on sustainability". You can follow Andrea on Linkedin.

2️⃣ Dawid Hanak - Professor at Teesside University
Country: UK 🇬🇧
Most-Read Thought Piece: The future of sustainable transport: electric vehicles and public transport integration
Profile: Professor Dawid Hanak is a leading expert on breakthrough net-zero technologies including direct air capture, carbon capture and use, and hydrogen production. Prof Hanak is currently the Professor of Decarbonisation of Industrial Clusters at Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre, Teesside University and Trainer/Founder at Motivated Academic. His expertise is in process design and development, third-party validation, techno-economic feasibility assessment, environmental impact assessment, and business model development.

3️⃣ Jessica Burley - Chief of Staff of Juna AI
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Climate tech is dead, long live green tech
Profile: Jessica Burley is the Chief of Staff at June AI and a former investor at Planet A Ventures. She is also an active member in the climate ecosystem, leading the Berlin arm for both Climate Mosaic and Rising Tide. Jessica studied Politics and International Relations at Cambridge and worked as a Climate Innovation Researcher for the United Nations Development Program.

4️⃣ Ulrich Scherbel - CEO of AMSilk
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Advanced materials in 2025: from scientific promise to commercial proof
Profile: Ulrich Scherbel is the CEO of AMSilk, a company pioneering in biotechnology and sustainable protein-based materials. He joined AMSilk in 2020 as COO and was appointed CEO in 2021. Prior to this, Scherbel served as General Manager of the Global Apparel Division at Freudenberg Performance Materials, a leading global provider of innovative textiles. Scherbel leads AMSilk's strategic growth, aiming to drive the adoption of sustainable products across various industries.

5️⃣ Jonathan Lishawa - Member of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Council
Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Most-Read Thought Piece: Goliath's dilemma: can Big Tech be disrupted, or will the giants always win?
Profile: Jonathan Lishawa serves on the Ofgem Smart Energy Code Panel, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Council, as a member of Chatham House, and trustee of The Matthiessen Foundation. He is a technology strategist and advisor specialising in clean technology, connectivity, and digital governance. His work focuses on how digital platforms, artificial intelligence, energy systems, and supply chains shape societies and economies.

6️⃣ ex aequo Lena Thiede - Co-Founder of Planet A Ventures
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: In conversation with impact investors part 2: why lead with impact
Profile: Lena is a co-founding partner at Planet A Ventures, a Green Tech VC supporting European startups, where she is in charge of scientific impact measurement. Lena has a background in environmental and climate research & policy and worked as a senior government official on sustainable finance and biodiversity.

6️⃣ ex aequo Stephanie Jones - Co-Founder of e squared
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Most-Read Thought Piece: In conversation with impact investors part 2: why lead with impact
Profile: Stephanie Jones is the Co-Founder, Managing Partner at e squared, a VC/PE firm investing in scalable solutions to systemic inefficiencies, a Columnist at illuminem, a Board Member at Bloomag, an Advisory Board Member at Village Capital, and a Member of the Deep Space Food Challenge at NASA. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Dickinson College and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

6️⃣ ex aequo Gianluca Dettori - Chairman and General Partner of Primo Ventures
Country: Italy 🇮🇹
Most-Read Thought Piece: In conversation with impact investors part 2: why lead with impact
Profile: Gianluca Dettori is the Chairman and General Partner of Primo Ventures, focusing on digital and space tech investments. He co-founded Vitaminic, took it public in 2000, and later became Vice President of Buongiorno. In 2007, he founded dpixel, an innovation advisory firm. He is also the Founding President of the Italian Tech Alliance and a Fellow of the Kauffman Society.

7️⃣ Yury Erofeev - Sustainability Product Manager of SQUAKE
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Which is more harmful: an electric car or a gasoline car?
Profile: Yury Erofeev is the Sustainability Product Manager of SQUAKE, specialising in market analysis, carbon calculation methodologies, and product development within the transport and travel sectors. With a solid foundation in physics, mathematics, and sustainable development, he is passionate about driving impactful change through data-driven insights and strategic innovation.

8️⃣ Young-jin Choi - Director of Impact & ESG at Vidia Equity
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: AI's role in the climate fight
Profile: Young-jin Choi is Director of Impact & ESG at Vidia Equity, a purpose-driven private equity fund accelerating industrial decarbonisation. A passionate climate impact investing activist, he has led initiatives in impact advisory, corporate VC, and strategy consulting. He holds three master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering, International Business, and Politics, Philosophy & Economics (PPE).

9️⃣ ex aequo Pierre-Yves Paslier - Co-Founder of Notpla
Country: France 🇫🇷
Most-Read Thought Piece: Can seaweed save us from billions of plastic-lined coffee cups?
Profile: Pierre-Yves Paslier is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Notpla, a company dedicated to developing sustainable packaging solutions using seaweed to replace single-use plastics. Notpla won the £1,000,000 Earthshot Prize in 2022 for its innovative approach to building a waste-free world. Pierre-Yves has a Master's in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London and Royal College of Art, and has co-founded other ventures like Gravity Sketch, a tool for 3D design in virtual reality. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub.

9️⃣ ex aequo Rodrigo García González - Co-Founder of Notpla
Country: Spain 🇪🇸
Most-Read Thought Piece: Can seaweed save us from billions of plastic-lined coffee cups?
Profile: Rodrigo García González is the Co-CEO and Co-founder of Notpla. He is a designer, architect and inventor working to reinvent packaging through biodegradable materials and circular design. He co-leads Notpla, the sustainability venture awarded the Earthshot Prize and the Grand Prix for Design at Cannes Lions, known for innovations in seaweed-based alternatives to plastic.

🔟 Romain Diaz - Founder of Satgana
Country: France 🇫🇷
Most-Read Thought Piece: Climate tech was just the beginning
Profile: Romain Diaz is the Founder & CEO of Satgana, a B Corp-certified and SFDR Article 9 venture capital firm investing in early-stage climate tech and Earth tech companies across Europe and Africa. He focuses on backing companies building technologies for climate, nature, and planetary resilience. He studied Management, Entrepreneurship, and Business Administration at Emlyon Business School.

Congratulations to our most-read thought leaders of the last year. In a time when the sustainability conversation was pulled in every direction at once, the voices on this list helped move it forward with clarity and intellect. We are proud to amplify their voices, and look forward to what comes next.

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