Carla Andrea Ruiz Philipps
Intern / Student ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment / Australian National University
Carla Andrea Ruiz Philipps is a Peruvian water and climate advocate currently pursuing a Master's in Climate Change at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, while interning at the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment. Her journey in the water sector began volunteering with the Ministry of Environment in 2020 and later winning first place in the Inter-American Development Bank's e-Hackathon, which led her to launch a WASH-focused social entrepreneurship with her university friends Ana and Cati. Thanks to this experience, she was selected as one of 10 Women4Climate fellows in Lima, representing young women driving climate action. Later, as a Young Global Changer, she received a scholarship to attend the Global Solutions Summit 2024, connecting with energy and climate experts from all over the world. Her current research focuses on contribution-based governance models for water intensive industries, including data centres and AI infrastructure. She is exploring how these sectors can shift from passive resource consumption to active investment in local water resilience. Carla is passionate about bridging grassroots experience with policy level decision-making, and about building networks that connect community innovators, government, and industry around shared water security goals.