Catherine McKenna is a Canadian lawyer, executive, and former politician who served as Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (2015–2019) and Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (2019–2021). During her political career, she helped negotiate the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement and pioneered Canada’s first comprehensive national climate plan, which introduced cross-country carbon pricing.
Before entering politics, McKenna practiced international trade law and advised the United Nations peacekeeping mission in East Timor. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions and chairs the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments.
“Communication is hard for people who work in climate because often they aren’t really with regular people. When I was in law, everyone wanted to sound like a lawyer, which actually is a terrible thing. Everyone hates how lawyers speak, and so you have to strip it down to simple language.”