An interview with our new team member, Anna Gumbau

On this occasion, we talked to another one of our new Sustainable Professionals, Anna Gumbau. Focusing on communications, she will be working with us part-time on a freelance basis.

Anna was born and raised in Barcelona. She has always enjoyed communications and public speaking, saying she was even her school festival’s master of ceremonies at 5 years old. “I think that’s where my interest in communications stems from”, she laughs.

Her journey into the profession of communications started with studying journalism in Barcelona. “I then began focusing on EU affairs, and then EU-Russia relations. This brought me to energy and I got interested in the environment and climate policies through that”.

After having worked for various think tanks, NGOs and publications, Anna is now on a new mission: Bringing #SustainablePA to a much wider audience.

What are your goals at #SustainablePA?

“I never saw myself working in traditional public affairs”, Anna says with a smile. However, she adds that she got to know #SustainablePA through her time at the Brussels-based publication, Carbon Pulse. “I found that I really liked the unique approach, transparency and mission at #SustainablePublicAffairs”.

Most of all, Anna says that she loves the idea of supporting companies who are “first in class in sustainability”. She also thinks it’s very important to shape the future of the EU’s environmental legislation in a positive way.

Her job, she says, will be to contribute to the next stage of development and to position the firm’s brand and its experts in Brussels.“I want to take their communications to the next level, including media relations, events and more”.

What is the biggest opportunity to improve sustainability?

“Of course, climate leadership is essential in the EU”, Anna insists. “But it is important to have an inclusive approach to this – especially in terms of gender equality”. She thinks it’s time to “shake up the status quo” and bring a more refreshing type of leadership to climate policy-making.

Anna also sees the EU’s Green Deal as a real game changer. “In the past, climate policy was often seen as being siloed, but now the Green Deal is making sustainability a big part of all policy areas. Things like transport, competition policy or foreign affairs used to be treated separately, but now sustainability is a thread connecting all EU policies.”“

That’s why it’s so important to get it right!” she says, adding however that “it’s a really complex puzzle” to piece together.

Using her skills in communications and event management, Anna hopes to solve this puzzle by enabling #SustainablePA to bring its message to a wider audience and help make a positive difference for the environment.

We lobby for climate positive impacts and we also operate climate positively.

Aiming for policy-driven growth? Get in touch!

#SustainablePublicAffairs (B Corp)
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