Global CSR Foundation and The European name first 50 Global Impact Leaders ahead of COP31

Global CSR Foundation and The European have announced the first 50 honourees in the 100 Global Impact Leaders initiative, with recognition focused on climate, technology, investment and social impact. The remaining honourees will roll out before year-end, and the largest in-person celebration is set for COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.

Why it matters: - The 100 Global Impact Leaders initiative is meant to spotlight people and organisations tackling climate change, technology gaps, sustainable finance and social impact. - The programme is tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, making the awards part recognition and part global convening platform. - The first 50 honourees come from more than a dozen countries, signaling an international field of influence across sectors.

What happened: - Global CSR Foundation and The European announced the first 50 honourees in the 100 Global Impact Leaders initiative on October 29, 2026. - The inaugural cohort includes climate scientists, technology innovators, investors, public servants, social entrepreneurs and cultural leaders. - Among the named honourees are Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, Fei-Fei Li of Stanford HAI and World Labs, climate scientist Daniel Kammen, Carl Benjamin Page of the Anthropocene Institute, Zhenhua Xie of Tsinghua ICCSD and Ida Liu of HSBC Private Bank. - The full list of 100 honourees is expected by the end of 2026.

The details: - Two afternoon programmes are scheduled for November 10 and 11, 2026, at the Rotary International Pavilion in the COP31 Blue Zone in Antalya, Türkiye. - The events will feature the Global Impact Leaders Summit, the Women Impact Leadership Summit and the Youth Impact Leadership Summit. - Honourees will meet with government delegations and United Nations officials during the COP31 gatherings. - COP31 runs from November 9 to 20, 2026. - The COP31 events are positioned as the initiative’s concluding and largest in-person recognition gathering of 2026. - The initiative previously recognised honourees at three international gatherings. - The first five received certificates at APEX in Las Vegas on September 23. - Another five were honoured at United Nations Headquarters in New York during the 7th Global CSR Summit on October 16. - A third ceremony in Rome during the World Changers Summit recognised Prof. Gabriele Pao-Pei Andreoli, Sara Penco and Peter Liu. - The awards are grouped under seven themes across 40 categories and listed alphabetically by surname within each award. - Leadership honourees include Peter Liu, Zhenhua Xie, Lan Xue, Alev Baymur, Yue-Sai Kan and Feng Liu. - Environment honourees include Daniel Kammen, Christopher Puttock, Domenico Vito, James L. Sweeney, Yi Cui, Xiaoxin Zhou, Alberto Palombo and Birnur Temel Birtane. - Business honourees include Hock E. Tan, Ida Liu, John Rosser, Max Studennikoff, Cheng Ai, Carl Benjamin Page, Menglong Jia, Prof. Gabriele Pao-Pei Andreoli, Mayan Metzler and Sudip Mukhopadhyay. - Social impact honourees include Grace Chen, Ernie Kwok, Ruomei Li, Cathy Allara Latiwa, Gina Roda, Peter Wu, Andrea Atzori and Rajan Kapur. - Technology honourees include Vincent Février, Dee C. Marshall, Rosalind Panda, Christian Johnston, Jie Kinoshita, Zehong Liu, Fei-Fei Li and Jensen Huang. - Partnerships honourees include M.R. Malinee Chakrabandhu, Dr. Geeta Kadambi, Sara Penco, Bruce Knotts, John D. McDonald, Peter Kuo and Dr. Linda J. Stillman. - Emerging leaders honourees include Miles C. Prime, Wally Chen-Lin Yang and Darasing Khurana. - Honourees are selected by an independent judging panel using written impact dossiers that measure results, scale, innovation and SDG alignment. - The judging panel is co-chaired by Jing Zhao Cesarone, founder and CEO of Global CSR Foundation, and Charles Nugent-Isitt, CEO of The European. - Panel members include leaders from the UNWWO, CNOOC and Sinopec, the Global Green Development Alliance, XZEN Technologies, Smart Solutions, Wesleyan University, the University of Huddersfield, Rotary, the Global CSR Foundation and CCISUG.

Between the lines: - The rollout strategy suggests the organisers want the awards to function as a sustained global platform, not a single announcement. - Grouping the honourees by theme and scheduling ceremonies around COP31 gives the initiative a climate-policy backdrop and a broader diplomatic audience. - The judging criteria emphasize measurable outcomes, which may help distinguish the programme from more reputation-based recognition lists.

What's next: - The remaining 50 honourees will be announced in the coming weeks. - The complete list of 100 Global Impact Leaders will be published by the end of 2026. - The COP31 programmes in Antalya will serve as the main in-person recognition moment for the initiative this year. - More information is available on the Global CSR Foundation's LinkedIn page.