--- description: Find out why Eva Riesenhuber is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. title: Eva Riesenhuber: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt127351f9955660d1/6998cb04f1b082dffc6f1cf2/Leaders-Eva-Riesenhuber.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Eva Riesenhuber Global Head of Sustainability, Siemens by Eva Riesenhuber  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _As global head of sustainability at_ [_Siemens_](https://time.com/collection/worlds-most-sustainable-companies-2025/ "undefined")_, Eva Riesenhuber ensures Europe’s largest engineering company is enabling its customers to lower their emissions. Under her leadership, Siemens has made its products more energy efficient,_ [_financed_](https://www.oceanwinds.com/news/uncategorized/ocean-winds-selects-siemens-gamesa-as-the-offshore-wind-turbine-supplier-for-the-bc-wind-project-in-poland/ "undefined") _renewable energy projects, and launched major initiatives to electrify transportation in_ [_Egypt_](https://www.mobility.siemens.com/global/en/portfolio/references/moving-egypt.html "undefined") _and_ [_India_](https://www.mobility.siemens.com/in/en/references/india-on-the-move.html "undefined")_. The Siemens products sold in 2024 are expected to help customers_ [_avoid_](https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:32a7154d-edba-47bc-8e9b-9761617ba774/sustainability-report.pdf "undefined") _emissions equivalent to 144 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to the company, which is more emissions than its entire value chain produces in a year._ **What is the single most important action you think should be taken in the next year to advance the climate agenda?** Humanity has not existed on this planet with more than 2 degrees Celsius of global warming and the business case to invest in climate change mitigation now rather than suffer the consequences has never been clearer. This moment holds immense potential as there is no single action to advance the climate agenda, it requires system changes like more renewable energy sources coming online; smarter grids allowing for bidirectional electricity flow and higher, more efficient peak load; better battery storage; broader charging networks; and a unified energy market. National commitments to the Paris Agreement of well below 2 degrees Celsius global warming, and countries’ related national climate action plans, form the foundation of these system changes. New Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are due this year and bold commitments to course correct what is currently a 2.6 degrees Celsius pathway are important. In other words, governments, companies, and civil society must align around a shared vision, and act decisively to make systemic change a reality. **What’s one sustainability effort you personally will try to adopt in the next year?** I've been working on reducing my environmental impact for years now, biking to work instead of driving, switching to an electric car, being mindful about waste, and offsetting my flights when I have to travel. One new consideration for me is that I'm seriously thinking about becoming a beekeeper. I love being connected to nature's cycles: watching how the different seasons affect the flowers, trees, and insects, and understanding more deeply how our ecosystem works. At a time when we're seeing such dramatic declines in insect populations worldwide, it feels like a small but meaningful way to help. In my professional life, I deal with large-scale sustainability initiatives, but sometimes it's these personal, hands-on projects that can be the most fulfilling. **What is a climate solution that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?** As the International Energy Agency has [highlighted](https://www.iea.org/commentaries/staying-cool-without-overheating-the-energy-system "undefined"), one emerging challenge is the energy usage of air conditioning systems, with rising demand in developing countries due to hotter weather and a growing middle class. But these consumer systems are often designed to be cheap which makes them not only energy inefficient and not ready for circularity, with short useful lives. A lack of recyclability leads to waste of valuable resources like copper, aluminum, plastics, and rare earths, and leads to the release of hazardous substances like highly-polluting refrigerants. There’s a better way forward. Imagine replacing the sale of low-cost air conditioning units with a model in which people lease cooling-by-the-hour from high-quality, efficient systems. This shift turns a large upfront investment into a manageable operating cost, making sustainable cooling more accessible, while preserving resources and reducing emissions. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** I see two powerful elements that fill me with optimism: First, the operationalization of sustainability in many countries and well-managed companies that accept the gap between investing and return and have a vision and foresight to invest in future generations. Second, artificial intelligence. While discussions about AI often focus on its negative environmental footprint, this tool will have a significant impact on energy efficiency, climate mitigation, and adaptation planning and new solutions. [According to](https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/601eaec9-ba91-4623-819b-4ded331ec9e8/EnergyandAI.pdf "undefined") the International Energy Agency, industrial software and AI could result in 8 exajoules of annual energy savings by 2035\. Looking at the energy efficiency that Siemens industrial AI driven solutions are already creating today with AI, that estimate might even be conservative. We will know more in a year’s time, and be even closer to unlocking AI’s full potential for climate mitigation. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** We still have time, but the window of opportunity is narrowing. To protect what we value, safeguard livelihoods across the globe, and build a resilient future, we must act now. And we must act with focus and manage the two parallel system changes of energy transition and circularity—without having to choose one over the other. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/"},"headline":"Eva Riesenhuber","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:00:52.146Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt127351f9955660d1/6998cb04f1b082dffc6f1cf2/Leaders-Eva-Riesenhuber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt127351f9955660d1/6998cb04f1b082dffc6f1cf2/Leaders-Eva-Riesenhuber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-climate-2025/","name":"TIME100 Climate 2025"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/","name":"Eva Riesenhuber"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 Climate 2025 | Leaders Compilation","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qIdHTBY3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-10-30T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qIdHTBY3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/","duration":"PT7M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326524/eva-riesenhuber/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```