--- title: Eduardo Paes: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 description: Find out why Eduardo Paes is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T01:01:00.326Z article:section: Climate og:title: Eduardo Paes: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 og:description: Find out why Eduardo Paes is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. og:url: https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16900effd7d2c962/6998cb047323af34d12bcf81/Leaders-Eduardo-Paes.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Eduardo Paes: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eduardo Paes: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 twitter:description: Find out why Eduardo Paes is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16900effd7d2c962/6998cb047323af34d12bcf81/Leaders-Eduardo-Paes.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Eduardo Paes ## Video: TIME100 Climate 2025 | Leaders Compilation [Watch (HLS stream): TIME100 Climate 2025 | Leaders Compilation](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qIdHTBY3.m3u8) (7:02)  _Published 2025-10-30_ Mayor, Rio de Janeiro by Eduardo Paes  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _As the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes over the past decade helped lead climate efforts to sustainably transform the city by completing its 150km Bus Rapid Transit system, electrifying the transport system, creating five new parks, adding half a million square meters of green space in low-income, heat-prone areas, launching Brazil’s first Extreme Heat Response Protocol, and making Rio the first Latin American city with 100% clean-energy-run municipal buildings. He has also carved Rio a place as a global climate leader by founding the C40 Cities Finance Facility, unlocking $1B in climate investment for Global South cities. Paes will co-host the C40 World Mayors Summit and COP30 Local Leaders Forum in November._ **What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government, needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?** The most important action to advance the climate agenda is to direct more financial resources to local governments. Municipalities play a fundamental role in implementing local solutions and driving action to fight climate change. Bold local policies can improve lives while contributing to global sustainability goals. Adequate funding for cities is essential to integrate them into national negotiations and to foster cooperation across different levels of government. Greater investment in city-level innovation—such as renewable energy integration, waste management, and urban resilience—would create scalable models that other regions could replicate, amplifying global progress. Over the next year, my main goal as mayor in the field of sustainability is to further advance the electrification of public transportation in Rio de Janeiro. Gradually, we will replace 100% of the city’s bus fleet with low-emission and zero-emission vehicles. Brazil has an abundance of renewable resources and a clean energy matrix. Therefore, the electrification of our transport systems is one of the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. **What’s one sustainability effort you personally will try to adopt in the next year?** Personally, I already drive an electric car, but next year I plan to swap more of my car trips for bicycle rides. I love cycling—and doing so through Rio’s beautiful landscapes makes it even better. It's more sustainable and healthier too. **What is a climate solution that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?** We need to design and build cities in more sustainable ways. This requires a range of solutions that must be fully integrated into urban planning, such as expanding green spaces, implementing nature-based solutions to prevent natural disasters (like floodable parks), and making cities more walkable while investing in green public transportation. These measures strengthen urban resilience, an urgent necessity, especially in the Global South, where the next mega cities are growing. To ensure their adoption is fair and effective, we must also establish financial mechanisms that direct more resources to developing countries. Addressing the financing gap in the Global South is key to enable much-needed investments in urban adaptation and the only way to protect the most vulnerable populations and prevent the climate crisis from further deepening social and economic inequalities. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** My hope lies in the fact that younger generations today have much greater awareness and understanding of the climate crisis and sustainability than ever before. Although more concrete actions and effective public policies are still urgently needed, this growing climate consciousness increases social pressure for change, promotes more sustainable habits, and drives innovation. All of this helps accelerate solutions and transform the way the world responds to the crisis. The engagement of young people represents a genuine source of hope for building a future grounded in environmental responsibility and climate justice. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** I would emphasize that local governments in developing countries represent a crucial opportunity for advancing the global climate agenda. Unlike industrialized nations that achieved economic growth through unsustainable and environmentally harmful means—and would now have to make severe reversals to rebuild sustainably—countries in the Global South have the chance to develop sustainably from the start. This presents a unique opportunity for these nations to grow resiliently, avoiding the cycles of environmental degradation that marked the past. Global leaders must therefore treat cities as essential partners, not secondary actors, in climate governance. Empowering them with financing, technology, and direct participation in international negotiations will be decisive for achieving a just and effective transition. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/"},"headline":"Eduardo Paes","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:01:00.326Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16900effd7d2c962/6998cb047323af34d12bcf81/Leaders-Eduardo-Paes.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/blt16900effd7d2c962/6998cb047323af34d12bcf81/Leaders-Eduardo-Paes.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-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/","name":"Eduardo Paes"}}]},{"@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-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/","duration":"PT7M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326536/eduardo-paes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```