Monica Araya

Monica Araya is a clean mobility advocate and a decarbonization strategist.

She works toward a world without pipes. She joined the Climate Champions team to lead the transport campaigns seeking to accelerate the uptake of zero-emissions mobility--working alongside the High-Level Climate Action Champions for COP26 and COP25. She has lived and worked in Latin America, Europe and the US, engaging leaders in government, business, philanthropies to advocate and guide decarbonization strategies. This means creating and supporting coalitions of diverse stakeholders guided by a shared vision.

Her experience includes working with early adopters of electric mobility as well as climate activists, utilities, car dealers, automakers, charging infrastructure providers, and lawmakers.

She is a member of several steering committees, including the 2050 Pathways Platform. In 2019, she was named ‘Crusader of the Year’ for her role advancing electric mobility in Costa Rica. BMW and TED appointed her as mentor to “Next Visionaries,” an initiative exploring the future of mobility. In 2014, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs named her "Personality of the Future". She frequently gives talks on decarbonization leadership, such as her TED talk which has over 1.3 million views. Araya holds a Master's degree in Economics from Costa Rica’s National University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Management from Yale University. She was selected to the first all-female expedition to Antarctica, where she reaffirmed her commitment to advance climate solutions.

Since 2020, she has served as the Transport Lead at Climate Champions, the conveners of the 'Race To Zero'.

Araya is from Costa Rica and currently lives in Amsterdam.