From a small island state on the front lines of the climate crisis, Mia Mottley leads with a scale of ambition most large economies have never attempted: one of the world's most ambitious fossil-fuel phase-out targets, more than a million trees planted with broad public participation, and the Roofs to Reefs program linking resilient housing to the coral reefs that protect the coastline.
On the world stage she has become the voice the international financial system cannot ignore. Her Bridgetown Initiative pushes to reform climate finance so that frontline countries can actually afford resilience – and at COP27 she called on fossil companies posting record profits to contribute directly to covering climate damage. She confronts both the climate crisis and the colonial legacy beneath it, with the same directness.
Achievements
- Set one of the world's most ambitious fossil-fuel phase-out targets
- Launched the internationally recognized Bridgetown Initiative to reform climate finance
- Roofs to Reefs: linking housing resilience to coastal ecosystem restoration
- Leading global voice for small island states and loss-and-damage funding
In Planet vs. Patriarchy: A different kind of leadership.