--- title: Jonathan Shaw: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 description: Find out why Jonathan Shaw is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T01:01:09.602Z article:section: Climate og:title: Jonathan Shaw: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 og:description: Find out why Jonathan Shaw 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-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52b0a1b3b9e028c2/6998cafef1b08204b56f1cea/Innovators-Jonathan-Shaw.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jonathan Shaw: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jonathan Shaw: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 twitter:description: Find out why Jonathan Shaw 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/blt52b0a1b3b9e028c2/6998cafef1b08204b56f1cea/Innovators-Jonathan-Shaw.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Jonathan Shaw CEO, Nuru by Jonathan Shaw  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _Jonathan Shaw is on a mission to bring clean electricity to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since installing the country’s first commercial solar mini-grid in 2017, Shaw’s company,_ [_Nuru_](https://nuru.cd/)_, has brought three more such projects online and is in the process of constructing what will be the biggest solar mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa, offering a model that could be replicated in other vulnerable regions with low electrification rates. When Rwanda-backed rebels attacked the DRC city of Goma in January of this year, Nuru’s minigrid kept electricity flowing when other power sources failed._ **What is the single most important action you think should be taken in the next year to advance the climate agenda?** AI innovators like Google, OpenAI, and Meta need to think more deeply about their energy supply chain. Beyond "greening" the raw kilowatts they consume, these companies should consider the climate impacts of extracting the critical minerals their infrastructure is built upon. Africa's role in the AI revolution is real and the climate impact of AI extends far beyond the electrons powering an Artificial General Intelligence. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** Converging energy access for the 600 million Africans without power while accelerating the climate transition is one of the great challenges and opportunities of our time. We have a transformational opportunity to provide a renewable, sustainable bedrock of energy for the hundreds of millions who are connecting to innovative grid solutions for the first time. Imagine a world where the Congo River rainforest basin—the world's second lung—is flourishing economically on renewable energy while the forest's role in protecting global air quality is preserved for generations. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** Africa has incredible resources, including human capital, biodiversity, and critical minerals for green technologies. So what happens in Africa in the years to come will greatly impact the rest of the world. Leaders must invest in the continent to help accelerate its positive, transformational impact on our shared climate, technological innovations, and interconnected economies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/"},"headline":"Jonathan Shaw","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:01:09.602Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52b0a1b3b9e028c2/6998cafef1b08204b56f1cea/Innovators-Jonathan-Shaw.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/blt52b0a1b3b9e028c2/6998cafef1b08204b56f1cea/Innovators-Jonathan-Shaw.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-2025/7326549/jonathan-shaw/","name":"Jonathan Shaw"}}]}] ```