Joojin Kim, founder and CEO, Solutions for Our Climate

Young people, and even children, have been at the forefront of climate litigation in South Korea. In 2024, the country’s constitutional court became the first in Asia to rule that the government was guilty of insufficient climate action and violating the rights of future generations, following a case filed by concerned youth and parents groups.

Youths as young as 11 also recently filed a suit against South Korean steelmaker Posco for its blast furnace expansion plans. They argued that the company’s actions impinge on their rights to a healthy environment and future, and undermines South Korea’s commitment to achieve net zero by mid-century.

At the forefront of the Posco case is independent non-profit Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), which has been a vocal defendant of the public’s right to a clean and healthy environment. It was founded in 2016 by Joojin Kim, who had left his job as a corporate lawyer focusing on power sector and environmental regulations with South Korea’s largest law firm Kim & Chang.

In the years since, SFOC has fought against some 4,000 megawatts of coal-fired power projects across South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Africa. The group also played a key role in the cancellation of a biomass plant in South Korea.

To Kim, these wins have been meaningful, but not the most rewarding part of his job. Instead, he has told The Korea Herald that what he takes the most pride in has been nurturing his employees and seeing them grow to surpass his own knowledge.

Resa Boenard, founder, Women Waste Collectors Association

Growing up in one of Southeast Asia's largest landfills on the outskirts of Jakarta, Resa Boenard was nicknamed "princess of the dump" and bullied in school for smelling like trash.

Living in Bantar Gebang, she saw firsthand how it turned from an idyllic expanse of rice fields to a landfill for 7,000 tonnes of waste from Indonesia's capital city. Some 3,000 families in its vicinity made a living from salvaging materials of value from the landfill to resell.

Boenard's life changed when a British couple she met decided to sponsor her studies at a boarding school in the United Kingdom and subsequently at Funadarma University in Depok, West Java.

She returned to Bantar Gebang in 2014 and established a community centre named the Kingdom of Bantar Gebang Biji (BGBJ), which provided extra-curricular education to children living on the landfill that aimed to help break the cycle of poverty. The social enterprise has been sustained through crowdfunding and selling items made from upcycled materials by those in the community.

In July last year, Boenard launched Indonesia’s first association for female waste pickers, titled Aliansi Pahlawan Sampah Perempuan, or Women’s Trash Heroes Alliance. Some 340 women signed up after the first meeting alone.

Her latest venture is ARBIE, a social waste management enterprise that upcycles plastic waste from Bantar Gebang and other landfills to create commercially viable building materials. The enterprise enables women waste pickers to sell upcycled goods directly to buyers, rather than through middlemen, who have traditionally controlled the trade of valuable materials salvaged from the dump.

Boenard’s organisation also plans to offer financial literacy training for to the waste pickers, helping them set up bank accounts and access micro loans. Many of the women in Bantar Gebang rely on loan sharks if they run into financial trouble and are further entrenched in poverty.

“What inspires me to keep going is the women I work with – their resilience, their stories, and their drive to build a better future together, not just for themselves, but for their communities,” she told Eco-Business.

Alan To, CEO, Climate Finance Asia

Under Alan To’s leadership, Climate Finance Asia launched the world’s first facility-level just transition guidelines for banks, one of the organisation’s initiatives that help the region’s companies and institutions incorporate just transition principles into their financial transactions.

The sustainable finance consultancy has also formed an industry-wide working group comprising international banks, which is focused on developing practical guidance to address operational emissions. Guidelines have also been developed for these organisations to share with their clients and other stakeholders when developing their transition plans.

Recognising the need to phase out coal-fired power plants, Climate Finance Asia has also worked on a tool that helps banks plan for the transition of these plants while considering the impact of their closures on energy, the environment, labour, livelihoods, gender and governance.

More recently, To worked on a collaboration with a global charity aimed at convincing Chinese firms to shift their investments away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy. The partnership is focused on expediting the retirement of coal assets in countries that are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which include those in Southeast and Central Asia.

Beyond his professional role, To’s founding and leadership of community initiatives have kept him grounded in the realities of climate change and the urgent need for action. A weekend farmer, he told Eco-Business that he has seen first hand how his farming community’s crops have been affected by unpredictable weather, driven by climate change.

His two social enterprises – Yum Cha Together, which encourages community building through cultural events, and Aromafunapy, which incorporates aromatherapy into wellbeing and nature – have sought to help companies fulfil their commitments to society and the environment.

Nanette Medved-Po, founder, PCX Markets and PCX Solutions

Over a decade ago, Nanette Medved-Po launched HOPE, a social enterprise that produced and sold bottled water in order to raise funds to build public school classrooms across the Philippines. But through her work at the environmental non-profit WWF-Philippines, she learned about the harm caused by plastic pollution and has since been actively campaigning for a reduction in upstream plastic production.

In 2019, she founded PCX Solutions, a Manila-based non-profit that advocates for policies such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes around the world and works with companies to understand their plastic footprint and implement reduction strategies.

The organisation also manages a third-party audited Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard to ensure the impact of plastic waste projects, with Medved-Po contributing to the standard’s first draft in early 2020. She was part of the technical working group that drafted the Philippine’s EPR law, which holds companies responsible for the plastic packaging they use throughout the lifecycle of their products, until its end of life.

PCX Solutions’ work has been highlighted in World Bank and WWF reports, which have recognised the organisation’s plastic crediting work and its implementation of EPR schemes. The organisation now has 35 registered projects under PPRS and supports 108 enterprises as a leading producer responsibility organisation in the Philippines.

In 2021, Medved-Po went on to found PCX Markets, a marketplace for plastic credits that aim to make plastic waste recovery efforts more transparent and traceable. Headquartered in Singapore and with offices in Manila and the US, PCX Markets now works with 24 project partners managing 38 projects around the world, helping divert over 122 million kg of plastic waste from nature to date.

Medved-Po has also been part of the Philippines’ delegation to the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations, which failed to reach a consensus last year. But she told Eco-Business that this doesn’t mean PCX and her peers in the industry are pausing their fight against plastic pollution.

“We’re not waiting for member states to align or all the countries to agree (on action against plastic pollution),” she said. “We’re making progress on meeting people and companies where they are, so that they can take individual, corporate or even member state action.”

In fact, one of Medved-Po’s proudest moments in the last year is the launch of the Plastic Cleanup Hero campaign for individuals. “It takes a long time for companies or organisations to get on board…but individuals tend to be very passionate on their own and want to make a difference,” she said. “We’re empowering that desire to make a difference right away, and I think that’s super exciting.”

Lutfey Siddiqi, adjunct professor and advisory board member, Centre for Governance and Sustainability, National University of Singapore, and special envoy on international affairs, interim government of Bangladesh

In recent months, former investment banker Lutfey Siddiqi has been widely recognised as the special envoy on international affairs to the interim government of Bangladesh, which came into power last year after widespread student protests led to the collapse of the latest regime.

However, his work in the sustainability space has been long in the making. Siddiqi told Eco-Business that just before his recent appointment, he pioneered three new postgraduate courses at the National University of Singapore’s business school, integrating applied sustainability into mainstream finance and economics.

A former investment banker, Siddiqi has also actively campaigned for innovative climate and nature financing, made the case for adaptation finance to be made more prominent, and spoke on the multiplying role philanthropic capital can play.

His latest role for the interim government of Bangladesh is temporary, but he has been leveraging it to amplify the country’s need for climate and nature financing.

“In recent months, I was able to use my public role at COP29, Davos, and other inter-governmental forums to amplify these messages on behalf of Bangladesh and the Global South,” he said.

Siddiqi has also collaborated with the International Labour Organisation to improve labour conditions in Bangladesh, well known for low wages and poor working conditions in its textile and other manufacturing industries. He has advocated against the mistreatment of migrant Bangladeshi workers seeking work in countries like Malaysia, where forced labour practices have been identified in manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Suthasiny "Moh" Sudprasert, co-CEO, Happy Ground

When pandemic-related lockdowns hit in 2020, Suthasiny “Moh” Sudprasert realised there was a gap in the market with consumers struggling to secure deliveries of organic fruits and vegetables.

Together with college friend Pattamaphon “Pearl” Dumnui, she launched Happy Grocers, an e-commerce platform that has since connected more than 300 smallholder farmers across Thailand to more than 1,000 consumers in the country’s capital city of Bangkok. The platform promotes fair trade, embraces ugly produce to reduce food waste and prioritises the stories of Thailand’s farming community.

Moh has since expanded her work further upstream, seeking to further democratise access to regenerative agriculture for Thailand’s smallholder farmers, especially those who have yet to embrace organic farming.

Last year, she and her team formally launched Happy Ground, now works with tens of thousands of farmers to generate carbon credits from biochar and encourage the use of precision agriculture to reduce dependency on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. The project has boosted profitability for farmers, lowered their greenhouse gas emissions and positioned them as integral players in the fight against climate change, Happy Ground said.

At the heart of the organisation is what Moh and her team describe on their website as a commitment to true accessibility across all levels of farmers in Thailand’s food supply chain. “For them, the transition isn’t just about affordability — it’s about having access to the right support system, so they can [operate] confidently and collectively with their neighbours and communities. Regeneration must be a shared journey, not a solo risk,” the site reads.

The Happy Ground team approaches its work through a process known as “radical listening”, which involves learning about the lived realities of farmers and designing solutions with them, not just for them. Moh has been at the forefront of securing partnerships with major corporations and contributing to regional and global policy conversations to champion the voices of underserved farming communities in her home country.

Ritwick Dutta, founder and managing trustee, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment

Ritwick Dutta, environmental lawyer and founder of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), has spent the past two decades at the forefront of many of India’s legal battles for environmental protection. LIFE, since 2008, has been offering paid and pro bono legal services to local communities and individuals affected by environmental harms.

To date, LIFE has worked on more than 1,300 cases that have helped shape India’s policies on nature, such as ensuring public participation in environmental permits and increased public consultation in protected areas, especially where dam and mining projects are concerned.

Dutta and his colleagues at LIFE strongly believe in the value of legal empowerment, which is why they work on training and empowering all levels of society to understand their rights and how these can be protected.

One of the group’s first major victories was against mining company Vedanta, which planned to mine bauxite in the pristine forests of the Niyamgiri Hills. He represented locals who opposed the project, fighting the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the project could not proceed if affected communities were against it.

“We believe that nature has a voice, and that voice has to be respected,” Dutta told Eco-Business. “To that extent, we use the courts and other legal avenues to articulate and protect the rights of both nature and communities.”

But his relentless advocacy has also conflicted with the Indian government, which has accused him of stalling coal projects.

LIFE was one of the three non-profits that was raided in 2023 for its criticism of an Adani-operated coal mine in a lush forest in central India called Hasdeo Arand. Shortly after the raids, opposition to the Hasdeo mine began to falter and officials began to clear 106 acres of the forest for the expansion of the Adani mine.

“What keeps me going is the fact that despite the challenges that the country faces, people still have (placed their) trust in us,” said Dutta. “We as lawyers feel that it is our duty to provide the necessary legal support and guidance to those who want to use the law to protect nature.”

Jovie Gil Montajes, founder, Light of Hope Philippines

As a child in the Philippines, where remote, lower income communities lack access to stable electricity supply, Jovie Montajes was often forced to study at night by the light of a kerosene lamp, shared with his sister.

Years later, he graduated with an electronics and communications engineering degree and spent a few years doing a corporate job before deciding to start Light of Hope Philippines, a venture that helps families like his own secure affordable and stable access to clean energy.

The chief solution from Light of Hope Philippines is the Solderless Solar Night Lamps in a Bottle, which takes used plastic bottles and the principles of light refraction to create solar-powered night lamps. The team has also facilitated the installation of off-grid solar systems for families in Mindanao, Bohol and Cebu.

In the past year alone, Montajes has led the successful deployment of these home solar-powered systems to more than 1,000 families in the Philippines’ remote and coastal communities, reaching families which previously had no reliable access to electricity.

“What made this truly meaningful was not just the impact of clean energy, but witnessing how it transformed lives – children studying under solar lights for the first time, families feeling safer at night and communities becoming more resilient to disasters,” Montajes told Eco-Business.

“Being on the ground, hand in hand with the people we serve, reminds me that real change begins with listening, showing up and staying committed even in the most challenging conditions.”

Rena Lee, ambassador for international law, Republic of Singapore

In 2023, as President of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Conference on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), Rena Lee led the successful conclusion of global talks on a treaty to protect the world's high seas. Negotiations had first begun two decades ago under the auspices of the UN to enhance international law for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in areas of the ocean beyond nations' exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.

The treaty was critical because although two-thirds of all ocean waters are beyond national jurisdiction, only 1 per cent of it is regulated. Lee's role in brokering the historic treaty earned her a nod in Time Magazine's 2024 list of the 100 most influential people.

Lee herself has been working in Singapore's public service since 1992, serving in a number of roles including with the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Defence. She specialises in the practice of international law, covering diverse areas including law of the sea, environmental and climate change law, and humanitarian and human rights law. She was also recently appointed as chairperson for the governing board of the National University of Singapore's Centre for International Law.

Last October, in a historic first, she was nominated by Singapore for election as a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), taking place in 2026. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the UN and a key institution for the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations.

Until recently, Lee was the chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

Fredrick Leong, executive director, environmental planning and green building – Hong Kong, Aurecon

With a career spanning 26 years in Hong Kong’s built environment industry, Frederick Leong has laboured to integrate environmental protection into the construction of some of the city’s most critical infrastructure. Since 2022, he has been the environmental team lead for Hong Kong’s largest landfill extension project, overseeing the reduction of methane emissions by 18 per cent and diverting 85 per cent of construction away from the landfill itself.

He has also worked on emissions reduction strategies in the construction of one of Hong Kong’s rail stations, the Hung Shui Kiu Station, and was a sustainable design consultant and environmental performance advisor for the Kwun Tong Composite Development, which includes the city’s new Civil Service College, training and medical facilities, as well as community and welfare amenities. The latter project is equipped with solar-ready rooftops and a building energy management system that aims to cut emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes each year.

Leong told Eco-Business that some of his most important work over the past year relates to corporate exercises Aurecon has undertaken to expand its capacity, including two acquisitions – one of an environmental monitoring and laboratory with more than 50 specialists and the other an ecology and landscape firm with more than 20 personnel.

The company now employs more than 100 specialists, offering services which include environmental impact assessments, air quality monitoring and audits, landscape and visual impact assessments, as well as hazard assessments for landfill gas.

Leong is also sensitive to the need to build his team’s resilience amid current geopolitical uncertainties. After more than two decades of work in the field, he says he is “fully aware of how things keep changing”, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence and new competitors.

“What inspires me to keep on pushing is finding ways to grow professionally,” said Leong. “With all the changes in the sustainability and environmental industry, I am excited by the possibility of building my knowledge and experience to continue having a positive impact on my professional growth.”