Discover also our 2024 rankings of the Most Read Thought Leaders in Energy, Energy Transition, Carbon and Social Responsibility. Explore how this year’s leaders compare to the most influential climate change voices of 2023 and 2022!

We are proud to present the most-read Thought Leaders of the year in Climate Change globally, as recognized by illuminem's ever-growing community of over 500,000+ readers.

The authors listed below are part of a distinguished group of over 1,500 Thought Leaders publishing on illuminem. They include business leaders, scientists, academics, activists and policymakers from every corner of the globe. While their perspectives may differ, they are united by a shared mission: to tackle climate change, advocate for sustainable practices, and foster innovation for a healthier plan.

Please help us congratulate the TOP 10 Sustainability Thought Leaders of the 2024 in Climate Change!

1️⃣ Alex Hong - Director of AEIR
Country: Singapore 🇸🇬
Most-Read Thought Piece: Beyond cloud nine: rebooting Southeast Asia's digital future with data sovereignty and sustainable IT
Profile: Alex Hong is a director at AEIR, part of Sync Neural Genesis AG, spearheading innovations in wireless energy. He serves as the ambassador of Southeast Asia for the Global Blockchain Business Council and chairs blockchain initiatives at the Global Sustainability Foundation Network. Additionally, he is the chief sustainability coordinator at YNBC, advisory board member for the Green Computing Foundation and the European Carbon Offset Tokenization Association Expert.

2️⃣ Arvea Marieni - Special Commentator of China Global Television Network
Country: Italy 🇮🇹
Most-Read Thought Piece: The energy transition is not a net zero sum game and China is part of the answer
Profile: Arvea Marieni is a Belgian and Italian climate ambassador of the European Commission. She is a partner and board member of the management consultancy Brainscapital and a shareholder and director of the French systems engineering company BEAM CUBE, where she co-leads the development of ecological transition solutions. As a strategy consultant, climate policy expert and innovation manager, she specialises in EU-China environmental cooperation and serves as an EU Commission expert. 

3️⃣ Delara Burkhardt - Member of European Parliament
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Timely and effective implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation
Profile: Delara Burkhardt is a member of the European Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She focuses on climate, biodiversity, and the circular economy, and is the SPD delegation’s spokeswoman on environmental policies. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Parliament's Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina/Kosovo. Prior to her election, she was Vice-President of the SPD’s youth organisation and worked in project management at a Hamburg-based communications agency.

4️⃣ Joel Stronberg - Founder of The JBS Group
Country: United States 🇺🇸
Most-Read Thought Piece: Are the young at the heart of Biden's election problems? What about climate?
Profile: Joel B. Stronberg is a senior executive and attorney and the founder and principal of The JBS Group, a Washington, DC consulting firm. Joel is currently advising the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization project at Columbia University’s Sabin Center along with his other clients.

5️⃣ Praveen Gupta - fmr. Insurance CEO
Country: India 🇮🇳
Most-Read Thought Piece: Boeing: Is it really about supply chain?
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.

6️⃣ James Balzer - Senior Project Officer of Australia's New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Country: Australia 🇦🇺
Most-Read Thought Piece: Exploring Tokyo as a leader in urban sustainability
Profile: James Balzer is an Australian climate and sustainability policy practitioner, with experience in the Australian Federal Government and the New South Wales Government. He has experience in climate and sustainability policy across think tanks, NGOs and social enterprises in Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.

7️⃣ Alex Edmans - Professor of Finance at the London Business School and Advisory Board Member of the Institute for Sustainable Investing at Morgan Stanley
Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Most-Read Thought Piece: Taking the politics out of climate change
Profile: Alex Edmans is an advisory board member of the Institute for Sustainable Investing at Morgan Stanley. He is also professor of finance at London Business School. He gave the TED talk “What to Trust in a Post-Truth World” with 2 million views, and wrote “Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit”, a Financial Times Book of the Year.

8️⃣ Erik Solheim - fmr. Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program and Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development
Country: Norway 🇳🇴
Most-Read Thought Piece: Making migration safe for climate nexus
Profile: Erik Solheim is a well known global leader on environment and development. He served as Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development from 2005 to 2012. Erik has been chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee as well as executive director of the United Nations Environment Program. He’s now working for Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) where he's a board member of International Hydropower Association as well as adviser to the Global Wind Energy Council as well as the Global Solar Council.

9️⃣ Ashish Kothari - fmr. Member of the Board of Greenpeace India
Country: India 🇮🇳
Most-Read Thought Piece: Judicial activism vs climate crisis
Profile: Ashish Kothari is a globally recognized environmentalist who has spent over 40 years of his career tackling key environmental and climate change-related issues. Ashish is the founder of Kalpavriksh, a non-profit organization working on environmental and social issues at local, national and global levels. He served as a member of the board of Greenpeace India, a member of the Steering Committees of the World Commission on Protected Areas, and a coordinator for “India’s National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan”.

🔟 Anna Alex - Co-Founder of Nala Earth and Member of the Sustainability Board of Vodafone
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Sustainability needs to throw the best party
Profile: Anna Alex is the co-founder of Nala Earth. Previously, she served as the co-founder and chief customer officer of Planetly, a climate tech company that helps businesses calculate, reduce and offset their carbon emissions. In the course of her career, she has been voted Europe's "Inspiring Fifty", the "Most Inspiring Women in Technology" and "Young Elite - Top 40 under 40". Anna Alex is co-author of the Spiegel bestseller "Future Republic".

To the most read sustainability thought leaders in climate change, 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 2025.

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