--- description: Find out why Jens-Peter Saul is on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action. title: Jens-Peter Saul: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ecaa3647fe0b209/6998cb02a97fc06c2da74cf6/Catalyst-Jens-Peter-Saul.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2025 # Jens-Peter Saul CEO, Ramboll by Jens-Peter Saul  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Courtesy Photo) _Jens-Peter Saul is CEO at_ [_Ramboll_](https://www.ramboll.com/en-gb "undefined")_, a global engineering and consulting firm that specializes in sustainable, climate-resilient urban infrastructure. Having already helped_[ _transform_](https://www.ramboll.com/en-gb/projects/water/climate-adaptation-driving-liveability-in-central-copenhagen "undefined") _Copenhagen into a “sponge city” by designing a new flood prevention system, last year Ramboll partnered with Malaysia’s Sibu City to create Asia’s first city-wide “_[_cloudburst masterplan_](https://www.ramboll.com/projects/government-and-public/sibu-cloudburst-masterplan "undefined")_,” which uses elements like rain gardens to prevent flash floods. This year Ramboll teamed up with C40 Cities to embed climate adaptation into more urban planning. In October, Ramboll was_[ _tapped_](https://www.ramboll.com/news/ramboll-terawulf-turning-coal-fired-power-plant-site-into-near-zero-carbon-digital-hub "undefined") _to help transform a former New York coal plant into a major low-carbon data center._ **What is a climate solution that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?** The biggest transformations often occur in those parts of the economy that few people pay attention to. Take, for example, steel and concrete, the backbone of global infrastructure and the most widely used construction materials worldwide. The production and use of steel and concrete are responsible for roughly 15% of global emissions, and they must be decarbonized urgently if the world is to meet the Paris Agreement goals. By sourcing renewable energy, implementing energy efficiency measures, and employing carbon capture technology, we already have the means to decarbonize steel and concrete production. The demand is also there: A recent [report](https://www.theclimategroup.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/The%20Steel%20and%20Concrete%20Transformation%20-%202024%20market%20outlook%20on%20lower%20emission%20steel%20and%20concrete.pdf "undefined") from Ramboll and Climate Group revealed that close to 50% of 250 global companies from 42 countries and 21 industries surveyed are prepared to pay a premium for lower emission steel and concrete. But we need to act now and act collectively. Policymakers need to set clear emissions targets and stronger financial incentives for use of lower emission materials, while industry must establish common standards for easier adoption of these materials into value chains. **If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next COP, what would you say?** It’s not news to anyone that the world is off track to meet the 2030 and 2050 climate goals. Each year brings more floods and wildfires, while limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels seems increasingly out of reach. All of this is taking place against a backdrop of unprecedented security challenges with innocent lives lost every day. But we can’t afford to despair. The expertise and technologies that can mitigate climate impact and help us build a sustainable future are already here. What we need is large scale investments in climate adaptive and renewable energy solutions by governments and business, and laser-focused climate leadership from policymakers to ensure a just transition for communities. **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?** Infrastructure is responsible for 79% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, including embodied and operational carbon emissions, according to the United Nations Environmental Program. Yet many infrastructure projects insufficiently consider whole-life carbon emissions in their designs. We must integrate sustainability into the infrastructure development process from the very start to urgently combat climate change. It is a misconception that saving carbon necessarily means higher costs. In fact, you can save significant amounts of carbon and improve the financial feasibility of infrastructure projects, if you implement whole-life carbon management. Governments and financial institutions such as multilateral development banks need to make whole-life carbon management a mandatory part of the planning process. These requirements of course need to be adapted to meet the maturity level of the constituencies where the infrastructure will be implemented and used. **What gives you hope about the future of the planet?** The people I have the honor of leading at Ramboll inspire me and give me hope. They are engineers, architects, consultants—more than 18,000 employees from diverse backgrounds and expertise—joining forces every day for a shared purpose, which is to design and implement sustainable solutions for society, so people and nature can thrive. Their impact is profound and global. **What’s one sustainability effort you personally will try to adopt in the next year?** Infrastructure is accountable for the majority of carbon emissions worldwide. Yet, in the planning of infrastructure, whole-life carbon is seldom adequately considered. Moreover, there is no global standard or best practice for a good carbon management process. The tools that currently exist are typically applied in certain regions and set very high standards, which often overwhelm those constituencies that have a low maturity in carbon management, such as in emerging economies. Two years ago, at a conference of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), I decided to make a change and initiated the [Carbon Collaboration Initiative](https://www.ramboll.com/en-gb/news/new-global-collaboration-initiative-to-guide-decarbonisation-in-the-infrastructure-sector "undefined") to define such a global standard. This meant sharing best practices Ramboll gained globally within carbon management with clients, competitors, and stakeholders. I created a “Founders Group” with 12 other large consultancies that were equally willing to contribute with knowledge and resources. This group went on to define the [Carbon Management Framework](https://www.ramboll.com/en-gb/insights/decarbonise-for-net-zero/designing-with-purpose-how-the-carbon-management-framework-empowers-engineers "undefined") (CMF), which will now be driven through FIDIC and their global network of 40,000 engineering companies. The FIDIC CMF considers all stages of a project, focuses on collaboration between all stakeholders in a project, and defines four levels of maturity to support those regions in the world that are only at the beginning of implementing carbon management. I am proud to note that the CMF was launched in September 2025 at FIDIC’s global Infrastructure Conference. While the management of this now rests with FIDIC, I will continue to support its development as the main sponsor and by providing Ramboll’s expertise. Personally, my main focus will be to help encourage global financial institutions to adopt the CMF as part of their project requirements. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326618/jens-peter-saul/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326618/jens-peter-saul/"},"headline":"Jens-Peter Saul","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:01:58.643Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326618/jens-peter-saul/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ecaa3647fe0b209/6998cb02a97fc06c2da74cf6/Catalyst-Jens-Peter-Saul.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/blt4ecaa3647fe0b209/6998cb02a97fc06c2da74cf6/Catalyst-Jens-Peter-Saul.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-2025/7326618/jens-peter-saul/","name":"Jens-Peter Saul"}}]}] ```