SANTIAGO – Today, TIME Magazine named Global Methane Hub CEO Marcelo Mena to the 2024 TIME100 Climate list, which recognizes the most influential leaders driving business to real climate action.
To develop the TIME100 Climate list, TIME reporters and editors focus on spotlighting individuals who are making significant progress in fighting climate change by creating business value. Potential candidates are selected based on several factors, including their recent work, measurable results, and influence.
In his role as CEO of the Global Methane Hub, Mena leads the organization’s efforts to accelerate action by governments, civil society, researchers, investors, and the private sector to develop and implement strategies that will catalyze rapid systemic reductions in methane emissions. To date, the Global Methane Hub has helped catalyze over $10 billion in methane reducing project investments by convening funders focused on addressing climate change and strategically regranting $203 million to more than 132 organizations, impacting over 150 countries that account for over 80% of global methane emissions.
Prior to joining the Global Methane Hub, Mena served as Minister of the Environment of Chile and has extensive experience as a scientist, activist, professor, and policymaker. In his role as Minister of Environment, he spearheaded multiple international environmental initiatives including helping craft a landmark agreement to phase out coal power generation, helping develop and implement South America’s first carbon taxes for power generation and new car sales, creating 45,000 square kilometers of national parks, and protecting 1.3 million square kilometers of ocean. While a Practice Manager at the World Bank, he led the team that created the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, and the Adaptation Action Plan.
This announcement comes as COP29 is underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, where Mena and other Global Methane Hub leaders are promoting more ambition in climate action through methane mitigation, and are hosting two weeks of programming in the Methane Action Hub Pavilion.
As TIME puts it:
Global average temperatures have risen 1.1°C since the Industrial Revolution. And about a third of the blame can be attributed to methane emissions. To tackle this powerful pollutant, Marcelo Mena, (Chile’s former environment minister from 2014 to 2018), is leading the charge as CEO of the Global Methane Hub–an alliance of more than 20 organizations and philanthropies around the world that aims to reduce methane emissions by more than 30% by 2030.
When asked “what is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government (other than your own), needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?,” Mena responded, “governments need to submit methane-specific targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions, [a country’s climate action plan as outlined under the Paris Agreement] to keep the 1.5C target alive.”
Mena joins an esteemed list of leaders from across sectors and disciplines. The full TIME100 Climate list is here: https://time.com/collection/time100-climate-2024/
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