Nicolás Wild Botero, GEM MBA 2019, publishes book on climate change in Colombia

Nicolás Wild Botero, GEM MBA 2019, publishes his book on the impact of climate change, the Peace Process, and the Covid-19 pandemic in Colombia. 

A global citizen

Nicolás hails from Bogotá, Colombia, but despite his city upbringings, has a deep appreciation for nature that he discovered at an early age while traveling through several regions of Colombia, including the states of Tolima and the San Andres Islands. 

In addition to his extensive travel throughout his native Colombia,  he has lived  in several major cities across the Americas and Europe. Nicolás earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations from American University in Washington D.C.  and has worked as a journalist and business administrator for several organizations including Grupo México in Mexico City, Panesi in Bogotá, Cadena Ser in Madrid, the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C., and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Dominican Republic.

Back to his roots

In August 2019, after finishing his MBA at GEM,  he returned to Colombia with the desire to understand what was being done to conserve our environment. Upon researching the history of the environmental crisis, he realized that, although there were several academic essays and sectorial scientific studies, he couldn't seem to find any books that offered a panoramic vision of the Colombian environmental crisis nor any work directed to the vast majority of Colombians. This realization sparked his desire to venture into the field and produce a book that would address the country's environmental problems, written in plain and simple language accesible to everyone, not just scientists. 

Putting it all together

With his background in journalism, he put together a list of Colombia's greatest scientists and experts, scheduling in-depth conversations and interviews with the very people who know best the different facets of the environmental crisis in fields as dissimilar as deforestation, access to drinking water and its scarcity, pollution in urban centers, collateral damage from illegal mining, the neglect of the seas and the proliferation of plastic, the loss of biodiversity, cities and the circular economy, sustainable development, and the massacre of environmental leaders.

The result? His book "Nuestro Desafio Ambiental" features interviews with 19 of these experts and focuses on the impact of climate change, the Peace Process, and the Covid-19 pandemic in Colombia. The official book launch took place in Bogota's Botanical Gardens on October 5th and has already sold nearly 300 copies.