Matthias Gelber, known on stage as the

Green Matthias Gelber, the GreenMan Man

The sustainability speaker who also runs the room.

Matthias gives keynotes, chairs conferences and leads ESG workshops that turn sustainability into sales, savings and growth. He has spoken in 42 countries, given five TEDx talks and served as ESG Advisor to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Recognition

  • 2008

    Voted Greenest Person on the Planet by 3rd Whale, Canada

  • 2016

    Green Icon of the Year, Asia Pacific CSR Awards

  • 2024

    Global Sustainability Advocate and ESG Innovator of the Year

  • 2026

    FAMAS Prestige Excellence Award in Global Environmental Sustainability

One booking covers three jobs on your programme.

Most speakers give the talk and leave. Matthias can open the day, chair the sessions in between and run the afternoon workshop, so organisers fill three slots with one booking and one brief.

01

Keynote speaker

45 to 60 minutes on why sustainability makes money, built around your sector and your numbers. Stories, humour and live demonstrations, and sometimes no slides at all.

In person or virtual. Keynote, opening address or after-dinner talk.

02

Conference chair and moderator

He keeps the day to time, links each speaker to the next and gets the audience talking. He prefers dynamic, unscripted panels to a list of set questions.

Half-day or full-day chair, panel moderator, roundtable host.

03

Workshop facilitator and trainer

Two-hour sessions, one- and two-day workshops and the four-day CESGI certification. Teams work through their own numbers and leave with a company-level action plan.

In-house or public. HRD Corp claimable in Malaysia for CESGI.

Other talks he has delivered

  • Big 5 Greenbuild, Dubai
  • Masdar, Abu Dhabi
  • Global CSR and ESG Summit, Hanoi
  • The Star ESG Summit, Kuala Lumpur
  • World Clean Energy Philippines
  • Festival of Disruptors, Singapore
  • SEC-PSE-GRI corporate governance webinar, Philippines
  • MRANTI I-Nation, Malaysia
  • Asian Development Bank
  • Forbes China ESG event
  • Asia ESG Summit, Kuala Lumpur
  • Five TEDx talks

Testimonials and feedback, exactly as they were sent.

Letters, emails, LinkedIn posts and messages from organisers, clients and participants. Tap any picture to read it full size.

Six talks. Every one is tailored to your sector.

Before each booking Matthias holds a short scoping call and rebuilds the examples, numbers and exercises around your industry. Each two-page outline shows what your audience takes away. Tap a page to enlarge it.

Beyond Compliance

1-hour keynote on IFRS S1 and S2, tailored to your organisation

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Decarbonisation

1-hour keynote, 2-hour workshop or 1-day workshop, with live exercises

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Employee Wellness

45-minute talk with 15 minutes of Q&A, or a 1-day workshop

Book this talk

Free tool for suppliers

Carbon is the new contract.

Large companies across Southeast Asia have signed science-based climate targets. To meet them they have to cut the emissions in what they buy, so a supplier's carbon numbers are becoming part of the deal.

Carbon Contract Finder, led by Matthias Gelber, shows suppliers which companies in their markets have committed to these targets, what those targets say, and where there are live openings to pitch today.

  1. 01

    Pick what you sell

    Packaging, food and agriculture, chemicals, building materials, electronics, logistics or facilities.

  2. 02

    Choose your goal and markets

    Win new business or protect existing contracts, in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

  3. 03

    Get your report

    Buyers with SBTi targets ranked by fit, live openings, and your next three moves.

Keynote and training talk

Book Carbon is the new contract for your event.

Matthias also gives Carbon is the new contract as a talk for suppliers, their sales and procurement teams, and supply-chain events. Your team leaves knowing which buyers in its markets have climate targets, how to find, cut and put a number on the carbon in its products, and how to use lower-carbon products to win new contracts and keep the ones it has.

  • Keynote, 45 to 60 minutes
  • Half-day training, 3 hours
  • Carbon Closers workshop, 2 days

The four-day Certified ESG Innovator training.

CESGI is Matthias's own ESG certification, run with iTrain Malaysia. It is vendor-neutral and industry-validated, and every participant who passes the exam receives a certificate and a blockchain-verified Credly digital badge.

  • Four days, including the exam
  • HRD Corp claimable for Malaysian employers
  • Certificate on completion and a Credly digital badge
  • Public intakes, or in-house for your team
CESGI course video preview

A German environmental scientist who made ESG entertaining.

Matthias grew up in a German village surrounded by forest, studied chemistry at the University of Siegen and took his master's in environmental science at Brunel University in 1994. He has worked on sustainability ever since.

He has advised companies, governments and development banks such as the Asian Development Bank, spent two years as ESG Advisor to the Philippine Stock Exchange and served as Net Zero Ambassador for DesertBoard in the UAE. He co-founded Maleki GmbH and IndoorCare, and created the CESGI certification.

Some proof that he lives it: he published a book printed on recycled paper with ink made from mushrooms, and in 2017 built Southeast Asia's first off-grid tiny eco home, in Malaysia. He speaks English and German.

For speaker bureaus: everything you need to propose him.

Bookings that start with a bureau stay with that bureau. If your client contacts Matthias directly, he sends them back to you.

Known as
The GreenMan
Based in
The Philippines, working across Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Has spoken in
42 countries, including five TEDx talks
Languages
English and German
Roles
Keynote speaker, conference chair, panel moderator, workshop facilitator, trainer
Delivery
In person or virtual
Topics
Decarbonisation, IFRS S1 and S2, ESG ROI, employee wellness, ESG and AI, biodiversity
Fee
On request, by format and location

Short bio

Matthias Gelber, known as the GreenMan, shows organisations how to turn sustainability into sales, savings and growth. Voted Greenest Person on the Planet in 2008, he has spoken in 42 countries, given five TEDx talks and served as ESG Advisor to the Philippine Stock Exchange. He gives keynotes, chairs conferences and runs ESG workshops, and created the Certified ESG Innovator (CESGI) programme.

Speaker reel

No contact details appear in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJm_wHSmK1U
Request a hold for your client

Book now.

Send the date, the audience and what the session has to achieve. Matthias replies with availability and a fee for your format.

  1. 01

    You send the brief

    Date, city or virtual, audience and format.

  2. 02

    A short scoping call

    Your sector, your audience and what success looks like.

  3. 03

    He tailors the session

    Examples, numbers and exercises rebuilt around your industry.

  4. 04

    On the day

    Keynote, chair or workshop, with time for questions.

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