Eftal Efecinar

Eftal is a climate action strategist, climate-tech growth advisor and partnership leader with more than 15 years of experience connecting climate science, frontier technology, sustainability policy and stakeholder diplomacy. She is Co-Founder and Director of Strategy and Corporate Communication at Next Generation GCC and Chief Strategy & Partnership Officer at Coral, where she leads strategy, growth, multi-sector partnerships, product vision, investor relations and regulatory alignment for AI-powered sustainability and carbon-market intelligence.

Her work focuses on helping governments, corporates, startups, investors and international organisations move from climate ambition to practical implementation. She advises on net-zero roadmaps, ESG governance, GHG strategy, carbon markets, public-private partnerships, impact investing, programme design and executive decision-making. At Coral, she supports the development of transparent, verifiable and financeable decarbonisation workflows that make sustainability data easier to manage, trust and act on.

Before Coral, Eftal designed and ran the flagship UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators climate-tech launchpad under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Shamma, supporting startups through policy insight, regulation and industry sandboxes. She also held sustainability and decarbonisation leadership roles at ENGIE, where she worked on net-zero strategies, demand-side innovation, clean-tech entrepreneurship and solutions for utilities, cities and mega-projects.

Eftal is also an active speaker, facilitator, mentor and jury member. She has contributed to platforms including UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub, COP29, COP28, GITEX Impact, Dubai Women Establishment, WiSER, Google for Startups Accelerator MENA and UNDP Samsung ACT28. Her core topics include AI for sustainability, climate-tech growth, carbon markets, sustainable finance, women-led climate innovation and Middle East net-zero pathways.