PM named among TIME100 Most Influential Climate Leaders

Prime Minister Mia Mottley is among the TIME100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business 2023 — a list of the world’s most influential leaders driving business to real climate action.

Mottley was named among the policymakers and government officials on this year’s list, which is made up of leaders, catalysts, titans, innovators, and defenders.

TIME described the Barbadian leader as one of “the world’s most vocal advocates” for wealthy nations and historic polluters to support the most vulnerable countries facing permanent loss or damages from climate change.

It said as she wrote for TIME: “Developing countries rightfully demand that their rich neighbours do more, given the wealth they’ve gained from years of burning fossil fuels unchecked.”  To address this need, last year, she helped launch the Bridgetown Initiative, which calls for a new global mechanism to quickly channel funds to support climate adaptation. In 2019, she developed Barbados’ ambitious plan to phase out fossil fuels by 2030, and this year, she convened the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris to force reform of multilateral development banks and reduce lending costs for small island developing states.

The 2023 TIME100 Climate list features various CEOs, founders and co-founders: Bill Gates of Breakthrough Energy, Josh Tetrick of Eat Just, Mateo Jaramillo of Form Energy, Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir of Carbfix, Peter Carlsson of Northvolt, Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher of Climeworks, Manoj Sinha of Husk Power Systems, Val Miftakhov of ZeroAvia, María Mendiluce of We Mean Business Coalition, Martin Lundstedt of Volvo, Jesper Brodin of Ingka Group/IKEA, Beth Ford of Land O’Lakes, and more.

The TIME100 Climate list features 45 women including: musician Billie Eilish, fashion designer Stella McCartney, philanthropist Melinda French Gates, founder of Our Children’s Trust Julia Olson, founder of Rise St. James Sharon Lavigne, Brazil’s minister of environment Marina Silva, VP of United SteelWorkers Roxanne Brown, CEO of BYD Americas Stella Li, Sr. Director of Charging Infrastructure at Tesla Rebecca Tinucci, Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever Rebecca Marmot, Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake, and more.

The list features 60 internationally based individuals, including Conservation International CEO M. Sanjayan, executive chairman of Iberdrola Ignacio Galán, CEO of Vattenfall Anna Borg, founder of Kere Architecture Francis Kéré, founder of Kubik Kidus Asfaw, founder of the Carbon Disclosure Project Paul Dickinson, and more.

Policymakers and government officials on this year’s list include US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, US State Senator Scott Weiner, principal deputy assistant secretary in the US Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Jennifer Wilcox, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, former VP of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, and more.

The list also features creatives who are key drivers of climate action within their business community: rock band Coldplay, singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, fashion designer Stella McCartney, Youtuber MrBeast, filmmaker James Cameron, architect William McDonough, guitarist & vocalist Adam Gardner, and more.