--- description: Find out why Penny Wong is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. title: Penny Wong: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d531244f951d410/6998caf8f1b082594c6f1ce0/Defenders-Penny-Wong.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Penny Wong Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia by Penny Wong  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _Penny Wong is Australia's minister for foreign affairs. Having previously served as the nation’s first-ever minister for climate change and water, she applies an environmental lens to her international relations work, and is especially vocal about supporting climate-vulnerable Pacific Island nations such as Tuvalu. Wong helped implement the world's first "climate visa" program, the_ [_Falepili Union treaty_](https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/tuvalu/australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-treaty "undefined")_, which allows Tuvaluans to move to Australia permanently to live, work, and study to escape the worst effects of climate change, while also guaranteeing Tuvalu’s continued statehood and sovereignty. This summer, more than a third of Tuvalu citizens entered the first ballot selection for the new visa._ **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?** To act collectively, every country needs to play its part. We can only honor our obligations to current and future generations by acting together. Australia is playing its part: Renewable energy generation has reached new records, accounting for [46%](https://cer.gov.au/markets/reports-and-data/quarterly-carbon-market-reports/quarterly-carbon-market-report-december-quarter-2024/state-total-renewables#:~:text=Renewable%20penetration%20in%20the%20NEM,be%20added%20to%20the%20grid "undefined") of the national market at the end of 2024, reflecting positive progress on our commitment to renewables being 82% of our energy mix by 2030; we are on track to deliver [$3 billion](https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/international-relations/counting-australias-climate-finance "undefined") in climate finance by the end of the year, including $1.3 billion for the Pacific; and we delivered a historic agreement to provide legal protection for Tuvalu’s sovereignty in the face of sea level rise, through the Tuvalu-Australia Falepili Union. This is important work that Australia remains committed to building on, but we are also realistic about where we stand in relation to global emissions contributions. In order to hold the line on 1.5 degrees, it’s critical that the biggest global economies take decisive action to rapidly decline their emissions. We act together, or not at all. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** The clarity and conviction of the Australian people advocating for progress on climate change gives me hope. There is a real groundswell of ambition and support from everyday Australians that want to contribute to a bright and prosperous Australia, with the promise of a future for our next generation that is not marred by the cost of inaction on climate change. We saw this at our most recent election, where Australians again voted to turn the page on climate change denial. Australians live with the impacts of climate change, from bushfires to floods, and they want their government to act seriously, responsibly and with urgency to bring down emissions and build the industries of the future. That mandate is powerful. The Australian people understand the enormity of the energy transition, they want solutions not slogans, and they see climate action as an opportunity, not a burden. We have a responsibility to the Australian people to repay their trust, turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower, and elevate the voices of Pacific Island countries to which climate change is an existential threat. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** I sat in the small room in Copenhagen at COP15 with the leaders of the world in 2009\. I remember thinking: _This room can do anything._ But the world fell short. Let’s not fail again. 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