Luis is the Global CEO of GeSI, responsible for the establishment of the Initiative strategic goals and overseeing all GeSI’s activities
Luis Neves was born in Covilhã, Portugal. In 1975 he finished his University degree in History. He worked for Marconi (today Portugal Telecom) as Head of Department and at the Corporate Office. Later he started an international career in Switzerland and developed an intensive activity at European and International levels. During this period he participated in different international bodies such as member of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications in the European Union and “Chair” of diverse Work groups, member of the High Level Group on the Information Society. He was appointed as “Expert” by the European Commission to different “Working Groups” in the Telecommunications field as well as in questions related to “Information Society “issues.
In May 2004 Luis Neves joined Deutsche Telekom as a Senior Manager in the Corporate Sustainability and Citizenship Department. In May 2008 he was appointed Head of Sustainable Development and Environment at Deutsche Telekom Corporate Responsibility and as from December 1st 2008 he was assigned to the position of Vice President Corporate Responsibility. On January 2013 he was appointed Senior Vice President Group Climate Change and Sustainability Officer.
Luis Neves has been playing a fundamental role in promoting the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in relation to Climate Change. In 2006 he was elected Chairman of GeSI, and together with the other board members, he successfully developed GeSI to become a recognised global organisation in the sustainability area. Under his leadership, GeSI became a globally recognised Industry organisation in the field of sustainability and a “thought Industry Leader” in the area of climate change.
As GeSI Chairman he was the driving force and the chairman of the steering committee of the “though leadership GeSI SMART report series”.
Luis has been holding positions in many organizations and initiatives such as Chairman of the GeSI – Global e-Sustainability Initiative, Steering Committee Member of the United Nations Global Compact Lead Group, Steering Committee Member of the United Nations “Caring for Climate” Initiative, Member of the ERT – European Round Table of Industrialists Climate Change Group, Member of the SAP Sustainability strategy, reporting & assurance Board Advisory Panel, Co-chair of the ICT4EE Forum, Member of the ICC Commission on Environment and Energy and Green Economy Task Force Meetings, Member of the Steering Committee of “Econsense”, The German Sustainability Association, Member of the Environment and Sustainability Steering Committee of BITKOM, the German ICT Association , Advisory Board member of the UNFCCC Momentum for Change Initiative and Member of the Leadership Team of the Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC) initiative and Jury member of GreenTec Awards and Board Member of the World Resources Forum Association.