Global Impact Leaders honored at COP31 in Antalya

The Global CSR Foundation, The European magazine and Rotary Club International wrapped the 2026 Global Impact Leaders Summit and Honors Ceremony on Nov. 10-11 in COP31’s Blue Zone in Antalya. The event highlighted climate, health, finance and technology solutions from leaders, ministers, scientists, investors and young innovators as COP31 pushed for measurable action.

Why it matters: - The summit put ready-to-use climate and sustainability solutions in front of COP31 delegates, where governments are under pressure to turn pledges into measurable action. - The program recognized people and organizations working on climate action and the UN Sustainable Development Goals across finance, energy, health, media, culture and community resilience. - The closing youth forum highlighted a pipeline of leaders under 31, signaling that the next generation is part of the climate conversation now, not later.

What happened: - The Global CSR Foundation, The European magazine and Rotary Club International hosted the 2026 Global Impact Leaders Summit and Honors Ceremony on Nov. 10-11 in the COP31 Blue Zone. - The event took place at the Rotary Club International Pavilion in Hall B2 at the Antalya Expo Center in Aksu, Antalya, Turkey. - The summit recognized honorees from the 100 Global Impact Leaders program. - COP31 was the program’s final and largest in-person stop of 2026. - Earlier ceremonies were held at APEX in Las Vegas in September, at UN Headquarters in New York during the 7th Global CSR Summit in October, and at the World Changers Summit in Rome. - Jing Zhao Cesarone, founder and CEO of the Global CSR Foundation and co-chair of the 100 Global Impact Leaders judging panel, said the two-day summit featured speakers whose work is already delivering results.

The details: - COP31 runs Nov. 9-20 and brings together nearly 200 countries and more than 100,000 participants. - Türkiye holds the presidency under Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. - Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen leads the negotiations. - The hosts have framed COP31 as the “implementation COP,” with a focus on turning pledges into concrete action. - Türkiye’s action agenda priorities include clean energy, zero waste and the circular economy, green industry, resilient cities, oceans, food security and health. - Climate finance for developing countries is central to the talks. - Kurum opened the conference by invoking the Turkish tradition of imece, which he described as sharing hope as well as burden. - UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warned that progress is “nowhere near far enough or fair enough.” - At his final COP as UN secretary-general, António Guterres said, “We have entered a new age of climate extremes.” - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted the World Leaders’ Summit on Nov. 11-12 alongside Part 2 of the Global Impact Leaders Summit.

Between the lines: - The summit’s speaker lineup suggests a deliberate effort to connect policy rooms with practitioners who already have working models in place. - The mix of ministers, lawmakers, investors, scientists, journalists and students reflects a broader push to show climate action as a multi-sector challenge, not only a government one. - The emphasis on finance, resilience and health shows how climate discussions are expanding beyond emissions into public health, equity and economic systems. - Rotary’s presence and Judith Diment MBE’s remarks tied the event to long-term service models rather than one-off conference announcements.

What happened: - Day one opened Nov. 10 with Cheng Gloria Ai, founder and CEO of iAsk Media and iAsk Capital, serving as master of ceremonies. - Cesarone delivered the welcome address, and Max Studennikoff, founder of CC Forum, gave the keynote on financing the green transition. - Ten honorees presented solutions in endangered species conservation, women’s leadership in the power sector, AI and cybersecurity, clean energy and climate justice, freshwater protection, Indigenous education in Guatemala, corporate sustainability, community forestry in Zimbabwe, urban metabolism research and climate media. - Speakers included Dr. Christopher Puttock, Ruomei Li, Rosalind Panda, Professor Daniel Kammen, Salvador Rico, Steve Dudenhoefer, Şafak Özsoy, Cinderella Ndlovu, Dr. Gabriela Fernandez and Dr. Domenico Vito. - Tonga Prime Minister His Excellency Lord Fakafānua gave a special address on sea level rise and climate justice for small island states and received the Climate Resilience Award. - The Dominican Republic ambassador attended, and Dr. Maximiliano Puig, executive vice president of the Dominican Republic’s National Council for Climate Change and Carbon Market and a former environment minister, was honored as one of the 100 Global Impact Leaders. - Day two was hosted by Cesarone. - Judith Diment MBE, president of the Rotary Club of London and a Judging Council member, opened the session with a reference to Rotary’s work to end polio as a model for climate partnership. - Juan Carlos Monterrey, CEO of VANGLabs, TIME100 Climate honoree and Panama’s first special representative for climate change, gave a special address from the negotiation perspective. - Joni Laez, a member of the National Congress of Honduras, also took part. - Gayatri Karnik, policy analyst at the Anthropocene Institute, delivered the keynote on behalf of 2026 honoree Carl Benjamin Page, president and co-founder of the institute. - A climate finance and resilient communities dialogue featured Nick Greenfield of the Global Environment Facility and Ugandan Members of Parliament Joseph Ogwal and Evelyne Ninsiima. - Impact talks followed from Peter Kuo of SIAS International, Menglong Jia of Hangzhou Heshun Culture Creative, Cheng Gloria Ai, journalist Joseph Hammond, young inventor Wally Chen-lin Yang, Dr. Xiaoguang Wang, and Erai Beckmann and Kyleigha Beckmann of Peace Through Trade. - Topics included climate and global health, microplastics and women’s reproductive health, culture, media, technology cooperation and corporate social responsibility. - Dr. Gabriela Szalayova, a physician and biomedical researcher, presented “Beyond the Visible: Micro and Nanoplastics, Women's Health, and Reproductive Risks” and received her 100 Global Impact Leaders award that afternoon. - The summit closed with the COP31² Youth Forum, which recognized young leaders under 31 for climate action, technology and sustainable development.

What’s next: - The final list of the 100 Global Impact Leaders will be announced by the end of 2026. - Honoree profiles will appear in The European magazine.