Ricardo Gonzalez Llera

About Ricardo Gonzalez Llera

Senior sustainability, energy, and climate leader with over 20 years of experience and a proven record designing and executing enterprise‑scale decarbonization and environmental management programs across global operations. Deep expertise in energy efficiency, renewable electricity, GHG reduction, and end‑to‑end Climate Transition Planning toward Net Zero operations. Recognized authority in environmental and energy management systems, GHG accounting and assurance, and international environmental regulation, with hands‑on leadership across data centers, manufacturing, real estate, and supply chains. Trusted advisor to executives, boards, and external stakeholders, delivering credible, auditable, and results‑driven outcomes.He most recently served as Manager of Energy, Climate & Environmental Management within IBM’s Chief Sustainability Office, where he led IBM’s global energy and climate transformation from 2015 to 2025. In this role, he architected IBM’s fifth‑generation operational GHG reduction program, delivering a 65% reduction against a 2010 baseline two years ahead of target (68% YE 2023), and helped drive renewable electricity adoption to approximately 80% globally by 2024. He also led the development and governance of IBM’s Climate Transition Plan, establishing a credible, auditable pathway to Net Zero operations by 2030, with a strong emphasis on real emissions reductions over offsets.His experience includes enterprise leadership across data centers, real estate, manufacturing, supply chains, and global operations, including oversight of more than 2,600 energy efficiency projects and major improvements in data center energy performance. He led IBM’s global ISO 14001 and ISO environmental and energy management systems, GHG accounting and assurance, regulatory compliance across more than 100 countries, and investor‑grade climate reporting.Earlier in his career, Ricardo held senior engineering and management roles in corporate environmental affairs, IT hardware manufacturing, chemical and industrial manufacturing, and environmental consulting. He is a Lead Auditor for ISO 14001 and ISO an active member of U.S. ISO technical advisory committees (US TAG 207 for Environmental Management and TC 301 for Energy Management), and is Chair of ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC39 on Sustainability, IT, and Data Centers.Ricardo brings deep expertise across climate strategy, energy efficiency, data centers, environmental management systems, and assurance. He is an ISO 14001 and ISO Lead Auditor, and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Experience

1. Vice Chair

   The Green Grid

   Apr 2021 — Present · US

   Vice Chair of the Green Grid (TGG) Advisory Council, the body responsible for leading TGG and replacement for TGG Board of Directors after its acquisition by Information Technology Industry Council (ITIc).The Green Grid is an affiliate member organization of the ITIc. The Green Grid works globally to create tools, provide technical expertise, and advocate for the optimization of energy and resource efficiency of Data Center ecosystems which enables a low carbon economy. The Green Grid is an open industry consortium of data center owners, operators, technology providers, facility architects, and end-users. TGG offers the technical expertise that the data center industry and governments turn to for insight and counsel regarding data center efficiency and sustainability.

Education

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  M.Sc., Environmental & Health Management

  2003 — 2004

• Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente

  B.Sc., Chemical Engineering

  1989 — 1993

• Yale School of Management

  Sustainability as Business Enabler Program, Environmental Sustainability

  2015 — 2015

• Tecnológico de Monterrey

  M.Sc., Environmental Business Administration

  2000 — 2004

Skills

• Recycling
• Environmental Science
• Environmental Issues
• Program Management
• Eelectronic Waste Management
• Hazardous Waste Management
• Sustainability
• Iso 14001
• Waste
• Ehs Audits
• Management
• Outsourcing
• Environmental Compliance
• Project Management
• Process Engineering
• Ehs
• Public Policy
• Strategy
• Emergency Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Ww Weee Laws and Regulations
• Hazardous Materials
• Renewable Energy
• Risk Assessment
• Management Consulting
• Iso
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Policy
• Ehs Management Systems
• Environmental Management Systems
• Waste Management
• Environmental Engineering
• Iso 50001:2011
• Project Planning
• Computer Recycling
• Sustainable Business
• Energy Efficiency
• Sustainable Development
• Life Cycle Assessment