Aussie eco-entrepreneur makes World Economic Forum class of 2022
Australian eco-entrepreneur Sophia Hamblin Wang has chalked up another entry to her already bulging CV after being named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2022.
The achievement will push Ms Hamblin Wang and her fledgling company Mineral Carbonation International further onto the global stage, building on her recent trip to COP26 in Glasgow and invitations to Davos and the UN Youth Climate Summit in early 2020.
“Being an Australian developing Australian technology, it will allow me to turbocharge MCI’s global reach and connect with others who are leading the way all over the world,” Ms Hamblin Wang said.
Being named a WEF Young Global Leader will open many doors, says Sophia Hamblin Wang. Jamila Toderas
There are two Australians in the class of 2022, with Boston Consulting Group managing director and partner Caroline Blanch Israel also joining 106 WEF young global leaders.
The 1400 alumni list is a who’s who of politicians, chief executives, entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, educators, activists, artists and journalists. They include Emmanuel Macron, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Jacinda Ardern, Melanie Perkins, Megan Rapinoe, Sanna Marin, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Cheryl Sandberg.
As a young global leader, Ms Hamblin Wang will have access to some of the world’s most prominent leaders and have a bespoke education and development program designed to meet her aspirations and elevate her potential impact.
“It’ll allow me to meet and learn from people who I would never normally be able to meet. Historically, the program has really shown how to help people set their limits higher than what they could have imagined,” she said.
“I’m trying not to be too hyperbolic about it, but this is really an exceptional opportunity.”
The Young Global Leaders program aims to identify people under the age of 40 with remarkable potential and who exemplify hope, empathy, authenticity and drive, to find and develop solutions that will make the world a better place to live in.
“The leaders celebrated today have demonstrated exceptional ingenuity and vision across their fields. While they represent diverse sectors, regions and issue areas, they are united in their commitment to lead towards a more inclusive and sustainable world,” said Mariah Levin, head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
Ms Hamblin Wang is chief operating officer at MCI, a start-up that takes industrial carbon dioxide emissions, mixes them with various minerals and turns them into building materials such as plasterboard and bricks.
Co-founded by Ms Hamblin Wang’s half-brother Marcus Dawe and John Beever in 2013, the company has a pilot plant at Newcastle University and a $14.6 million demonstration plant being built at Orica’s ammonium nitrate facility on Newcastle’s Kooragang Island. It is due to start spitting out its first building materials in June 2023.
The demonstration plant has been designed to be mobile, so it can be picked up and moved to a steel plant, cement plant or nickel mine.
“The exciting thing about our technology is that we can take a variety of feedstocks, whether it be mine tailings or steel slags or other minerals, and we can take a variety of C02,” Ms Hamblin Wang told The Australian Financial Review last year.
Last August, Japan’s Itochu Corporation took a multimillion-dollar stake in the company that will see it will develop market applications for carbonates technology in Japan, where it could be used to decarbonise sectors such as steel and manufacturing.
Building materials are just one use of the technology, with other potential uses including fuels, chemical feedstocks, mattresses, lipstick and vodka.
“The opportunities are vast when you apply an innovation mindset to it,” Ms Hamblin Wang said.
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