Global Speakers Program: Monica Araya

Costa Rica: A Small Country with Big Ideas

Abstract

The talk will discuss whether Costa Rica will become the world´s first fossil fuel free country and why this is relevant even if the country is small. We will discuss the national plan to go fossil free and what needs to happen to deliver this vision in particular how to engage the public and the private sector.

Biography

Monica Araya is an advocate, adviser and communicator who has incubated several initiatives in Latin America. She founded Costa Rica Limpia (costaricalimpia.org) to bring people closer to clean, smarter technologies that improve their everyday life. Her work focuses on consumer and citizen engagement in the shift toward renewable energy and zero emissions electric mobility.

Her group pioneered www.movilidadelectrica.org – the first electric mobility platforms in Latin America devoted to the education of consumers about electric vehicles. She also co-founded the Electric Mobility Association in Costa Rica and is Vice President of the Board.  Her blog, “Essentially Electric” is hosted at the business newspaper La República. She writes frequently for international and local media and has given talks in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Her TED talk fossil-free Costa Rica that has over one million views and has been translated into 30 languages. 

In 2017 she was mentor to the Next Visionaries, a TED & BMW’s initiative about the future of mobility.  In December 2016, she joined the world´s largest all-female expedition to Antarctica and was the first Latin American member of this global “women in STEM” leadership network.  The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs named her “Personality of the Future”.  Her work has been mentioned TIME magazine, the Financial Times, Hindu Times, The Independent, National Geographic, El País, Repubblica, and The Guardian.  Her articles and videos are available at www.monicaaraya.org.