UNU-INWEH Director Kaveh Madani Named to The Independent’s 2026 Climate 100

RICHMOND HILL, CANADA, 21 September 2026 — Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), has been named to The Independent’s 2026 Climate 100, an annual list recognizing leading environmentalists, policymakers, scientists, campaigners, philanthropists and innovators from around the world.

Released to coincide with Climate Week NYC, the third annual Climate 100 recognizes individuals and organizations that The Independent says are making a “positive and significant difference” in addressing the climate crisis. 

Madani is one of three current UN-system leaders featured on the list, alongside United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen. Other leaders of major international institutions recognized include International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol and Green Climate Fund (GCF) Executive Director Mafalda Duarte. 

The list brings together prominent figures from across government, science, civil society, business, philanthropy, culture and public life. They include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former US Vice President Al Gore, Sir David Attenborough, Pope Leo XIV, King Charles III, Prince William, Greta Thunberg and Bill McKibben. 

Madani is featured in the “NGOs, Non-Profits & Philanthropists” category, alongside figures including Bill Gates, David Miliband, MacKenzie Scott, Boyan Slat, Mafalda Duarte and Inger Andersen. The Independent states that the Climate 100 has no order of importance or ranking.