María Mendiluce

María Mendiluce is the CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition and has 25 years of experience in sustainable development, energy and climate action. The Coalition brings together seven leading international organizations: BSR, The B Team, CDP, Ceres, CLG Europe, Climate Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Together, they catalyze business leadership and policy ambition to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

As chief executive of the Coalition, María is leading on flagship net-zero initiatives encompassing companies of all sizes and several sectors. She sits on the Executive Board of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that has over 2,700 companies engaged. She actively took part in the founding and is a member of the Board of the Mission Possible Partnership that works to develop decarbonization roadmaps for seven hard-to-abate sectors including cement and steel. María also co-founded the SME Climate Hub that is building a one-stop-shop for smaller companies for their net-zero commitments.

Formerly being the Managing Director and member of the Senior Management Team at WBCSD, María established transformative industry projects. These include the Alliance to End Plastic Waste which pledged $1.5 billion to address plastic leakage to the environment; the Transforming Urban Mobility project to drive clean, safe and efficient mobility for all and WBCSD’s flagship Low Carbon Technology Partnership initiative which was recognized as a key contributor to the Paris Agreement.

She has also held senior positions at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, in the CEO’s office of Iberdrola and at the International Energy Agency.

Maria has a PhD in energy economics. She is a Commissioner on the Energy Transitions Commission, a Co-Chair of the Global Environment Outlook Business Advisory Board (UNEP), and a board member of the Centre for International Environmental Studies (CIES) in Geneva. María is Spanish, has three kids and lives in Geneva.