Patricio Cumming Rivero
CEO, Project Chaac
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“I envision a world that has a better understanding of how essential nature is for our socioeconomic systems. We must transcend from an arrangement in which we compensate for our impacts to one in which nature is valued, in all its grandeur.”
Patricio Cumming Rivero is a climate entrepreneur and lawyer in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. As the CEO of Project Chaac, an initiative that focuses on large-scale mangrove protection, conservation, and restoration as well as innovative socio-environmental public policies that enable sustainable development, he builds multi-sectorial coalitions from the private, social, and government sectors to create value-based models in favor of the environment, communities, and the economy.
Project Chaac aims to protect, conserve, and restore 55,000 hectares of mangroves in the state of Yucatan, as well as set an international precedent for climate action, sustainable development, and local community involvement. Before founding Project Chaac in 2022, Patricio worked as a lawyer, focusing on sustainable development and impact investing; he holds a master’s in business administration from the University of British Columbia and a master of laws in international legal studies from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Patricio believes that addressing the challenges of climate change requires trust, intercultural communication, and the recognition that building successful initiatives is not about confronting competing interests but rather about proposing favorable outcomes for an array of stakeholders. In order to disrupt inequality and create a future that moves beyond traditional notions of development and activism, we must nurture relationships between opposites, earn people’s trust, and stay true to our commitments.