WBCSD’s María Mendiluce appointed as new interim CEO for the We Mean Business coalition

The We Mean Business coalition announced that María Mendiluce, WBCSD’s Managing Director for Circular Economy, Cities & Mobility and Climate & Energy, will be stepping in as the interim coalition CEO. The WMB coalition brings together seven international nonprofit organizations, including WBCSD.

María is extremely well placed to steer the coalition in this critical year, having played a pivotal role in expanding WBCSD’s climate and energy work, guiding over 200 member companies on transformative climate policy, energy transition, plastic waste and urban mobility to influence the global climate landscape. She has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable development, energy and climate action. She is also passionate about defining and implementing solutions for sustainable business transformation and previously held senior positions at the Spanish Prime Minister’s Economic Bureau, in the CEO’s office of Iberdrola and at the International Energy Agency. María holds a PhD in energy economics and regularly teaches at different universities and publishes in academic journals and media.

She says: “I am thrilled to take up this role at a moment in time when we urgently need to get on track to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This is both critical and possible. The We Mean Business coalition has a major role to play, bringing together seven global organizations and the hundreds of businesses we work with. It is more important than ever to highlight that business is transforming and driving the transition to zero-carbon to give governments the confidence to step up. Governments can harness business momentum through implementing clear climate policies to ensure we successfully halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. By doing so they will enable companies to invest now and innovate at the scale and pace that is necessary to create the future we all want.”

Maria will act as interim CEO following the UK government’s appointment of former CEO Nigel Topping as the High-Level Climate Action Champion for the COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow in November. She will act as We Mean Business’ CEO alongside her role at WBCSD while the recruitment of the permanent, full-time CEO is underway.