--- description: Find out why Mary Schapiro is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. title: Mary Schapiro: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03a5a49df84bedf5/6998cb071f67092c3df56dd6/Leaders-Mary-Schapiro.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Mary Schapiro Vice Chair, Global Public Policy at Bloomberg by Mary Schapiro  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _Mary Schapiro is spearheading numerous global initiatives on smart climate transition finance through her many leadership roles. Aside from her primary role as vice chair of global public policy at Bloomberg, she is also vice chair and head of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Secretariat, chair of the Climate Data Steering Committee, and chair of the Global Capacity Building Coalition (GCBC). In the last year, she has led the launch of a GCBC digital_ [_platform_](https://esgnews.com/michael-r-bloomberg-and-mary-schapiro-announce-beta-launch-of-digital-platform-to-boost-climate-finance-capacity-for-financial-institutions/ "undefined") _to expand access to sustainable finance resources, introduced the GCBC’s_ [_Accelerator Program_](https://capacity-building.org/accelerator "undefined") _to scale sustainable finance capacity in developing economies, and helped establish the Brazil Climate and_ [_Ecological Transformation Investment Platform_](https://www.bloomberg.org/press/brazil-climate-and-ecological-transformation-investment-platform-launches-to-help-deliver-brazils-ambitious-development-and-climate-goals/ "undefined") _to advance the South American country’s climate goals._ **What is a climate solution that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?** Project-based carbon markets could channel hundreds of billions in climate finance, especially to emerging economies with the greatest decarbonization potential. But issuance is under $2 billion annually, hampered by fragmentation, weak standards, and lack of trust. Integrity is essential. Credits must be real, additional, permanent, independently verified, and transparently reported. The work of the [Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market to develop Core Carbon Principles](https://icvcm.org/core-carbon-principles/ "undefined") to “raise the bar” on carbon credit quality, and the work of the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets—led by Singapore, the U.K., and Kenya—to align governmental approaches to these markets, are essential if these markets are to scale. Also essential is the work the Climate Data Steering Committee is doing at the request of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group to develop a common carbon credit data model, which will help standardize carbon credit data to enable a more liquid, transparent market. With clear standards, policy support, and trusted data, carbon markets can become a credible and powerful tool for financing the transition—but only if integrity remains at the core. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** What gives me hope is the momentum we’re seeing around the world, even in the face of intensifying geopolitical headwinds. Clean energy is no longer a niche—it’s a leading economic growth story, with renewables making up [over 90%](https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2025/Mar/Record-Breaking-Annual-Growth-in-Renewable-Power-Capacity "undefined") of new power capacity worldwide. Solar and wind are the cheapest, most resilient sources of power, and electric vehicle adoption is accelerating rapidly, supported by technology advances and strong consumer demand. The question is no longer _if_ the world can decarbonize, but how quickly and who will lead. With the right policies and financial system architecture, the pace can accelerate further. Those who act early will not only help secure a safer climate but also capture the economic opportunity of our lifetime. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** Too often, these climate conferences turn into “talk tracks” where leaders (both public and private) announce initiatives that do not persist, and rhetoric that belies the political and economic realities we face. I’d rather see fewer announcements at COP, but ones that reflect a more persistent and concrete commitment to action grounded in the need for this work to drive economic opportunity for all people. Those with the ability to lead must act decisively and build coalitions that others can follow. Finance can mobilize capital and innovate, but it cannot substitute for government action. We need credible national transition plans, sector-specific roadmaps, and clear policy that gives financial institutions the confidence to invest at scale, especially in emerging markets. High-integrity carbon markets must be integrated into policy frameworks, and international financial institutions must evolve to crowd in far more private capital. We’ve seen how quickly markets respond when governments set clear rules and direction. Leaders must now provide that clarity, turning climate necessity into economic opportunity. The true measure of a COP’s success is the policies enacted and investments unlocked in the months and years that follow. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/"},"headline":"Mary Schapiro","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:01:05.749Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03a5a49df84bedf5/6998cb071f67092c3df56dd6/Leaders-Mary-Schapiro.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/blt03a5a49df84bedf5/6998cb071f67092c3df56dd6/Leaders-Mary-Schapiro.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-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/","name":"Mary Schapiro"}}]},{"@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-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/","duration":"PT7M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326544/mary-schapiro/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```