How the voice of Mariana Castaño Cano from Almería has reached the big stages of climate action
The story of Mariana Castaño Cano and 10 Billion Solutions is one of passion, commitment and connection between the local and the global. Born in 1980 in Jauro, a small neighbourhood in the municipality of Antas (Almería, Spain), Mariana has built a professional career that transcends borders, from local journalism to becoming an international reference in climate communication, inspiring organisations and individuals to communicate with purpose in critical times for climate action.
Dreams that are born in Jauro and reach the world
Mariana Castaño Cano began her professional career in the local media at COPE Mojácar and La Voz de Almería, and later made the move to the national press, specialising in television journalism and working at RTVE, where she consolidated her vocation for telling stories with impact. Then came the international leap, working first in Paris for Radio France International and then for the United Nations in Bonn, Germany.
She currently works between France and Spain, promoting and analysing climate action at an international level and contributing to major climate summits. She has participated in all of them over the last 11 years, including the historic COP21 in Paris in 2015 and the most recent, COP30, held in Belém (Brazil).
Beyond her professional career, her personal history and her origins, which are rooted in small-scale agriculture in southern Spain, highlight how effort and humility, combined with determination, can lead anyone who is determined to make an impact on the international stage:
“As the years go by, it becomes clearer to me that my roots, my family and my land are not only where I come from but where I am going, like that pink sunset sky that, when I am in Antas, I contemplate from my parents’ balcony, which is fortunate enough to face west, towards the hills that hide Jauro and, beyond, Lubrín. The land is not only where we come from, but where we are inexorably and, hopefully, peacefully heading.“
Mariana’s career (and roots) has been covered recently by La Opinión de Almería and La Voz de Almería, in an article by fellow Almeria journalist Antonio Torres.
10 Billion Solutions: purposeful climate communication from Mojácar
Almost two years ago, 10 Billion Solutions (the agency founded by Mariana specialising in climate communication and sustainability) established its headquarters in Spain in the coastal town of Mojácar, Almería.
The choice of this location was not accidental: it symbolises the importance of strengthening the regional and local role in addressing climate challenges, especially in the Mediterranean, one of the most dynamic but also most vulnerable regions in Europe in terms of climate change.
At 10 Billion Solutions, our mission is clear: to use communication as an essential tool to accelerate the adoption of effective climate policies and raise the visibility of real solutions that can transform our relationship with the climate and sustainable development. How? By carrying out everything from strategic communication consulting to content production, climate storytelling, media relations and event moderation.
This approach centres on the idea that communicating with clarity and purpose has a direct impact on how citizens, public and private leaders, and society at large understand and act in the face of the climate crisis.
Today more than ever, we need stories that connect with people, that translate complex data into messages that inspire action and remind us that climate solutions are not just public policies, but also narratives that foster hope, agency and collective responsibility.
