The Ibero-American Business Network: Amplifying business leadership for climate action ahead of COP30
28 August 2025 - María Teresa Ruiz-Tagle, Executive Director, CLG-Chile, shares why her organisation became a founding member of the Ibero-American Business Network for Green Growth (IABN), and how it helps to strengthen business action for climate ambition across Latin America in the run up to COP30.
In a region increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, business leadership has a vital role to play. Chile has faced intensifying droughts, wildfires, and extreme weather events. And yet, it is also a country rich in renewable energy potential, technological capacity, and a growing ecosystem of companies committed to a sustainable future.
That is the context in which CLG-Chile, a coalition of leading companies committed to advancing climate ambition, decided to become a founding member of the Ibero-American Business Network for Green Growth (IABN). Launched in November 2024 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the support of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), this network brings together national business climate leadership groups across Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Its purpose: to enable stronger collaboration, share solutions, and raise a unified voice ahead of key policy moments such as COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
A platform for unity and impact
At CLG-Chile, we believe that the private sector must not only respond to climate policy, it must actively shape it. We joined the IABN because we see the power of working regionally to influence decision-making globally. Latin America needs a common business platform to elevate shared priorities in climate policy: accelerating energy transition, promoting sustainable land use, and ensuring a just transition for all.
In the IABN, we found a strategic space to align with like-minded organisations, from Spain’s Green Growth Group to Colombia’s ANDI 2030 and Peru’s Pacto Climático Empresarial. Together, we can build momentum for green growth by combining our voices and insights, particularly as Latin America prepares to host COP30.
Why this matters for Chile
The challenges Chile faces, from water scarcity to decarbonising different economic sectors, are not isolated. They are shared across the region. Through the IABN, we can co-develop regional narratives, identify cross-border opportunities, and raise the visibility of Latin American business leadership in global arenas.
Our participation in the network also means greater access to peer learning, joint advocacy opportunities, and international exposure. For instance, during the IABN launch at COP29, we co-hosted sessions with our Spanish and Latin American counterparts, showcasing the proactive role companies are playing in aligning with net-zero pathways.
This type of collaboration is essential. It helps position Chilean companies not as isolated actors, but as part of a broader movement driving climate solutions across emerging economies and markets
A moment for leadership
“With Chile’s high climate vulnerability and firm commitment to net zero, aligning business and policy with global climate ambition is crucial to unlocking long-term investment opportunities and driving resilient, sustainable growth”
— María Teresa Ruiz-Tagle
In our conversations with Chilean companies, from the energy sector to agriculture and finance, we’ve heard a strong demand for spaces that allow them to lead, collaborate and influence. The IABN is one such space.
Being a member allows CLG-Chile and its companies to actively shape a new business narrative for Latin America: one that positions climate action not as a burden, but as a strategic driver of resilience, innovation, and competitiveness.
Looking ahead
With COP30 fast approaching, the IABN will be instrumental in mobilising the regional business voice in support of ambitious outcomes. CLG-Chile is proud to be part of this collective effort and welcomes other companies and business groups to join us.
As a founding member, we invite our partners, peers and policymakers to connect with us, and with CISL, to explore how business leadership can accelerate the transition to a climate-resilient, inclusive, and prosperous future for the region.