Event Date: March 25, 2024 - 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Location: FSS 4006, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa

Presented by CIPS and the Institute of the Environment at the University of Ottawa

Days after being named Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, landed in Paris and quickly found herself at the heart of the effort to secure the landmark agreement. Soon after the real battle would begin at home as she fought to deliver Canada’s first serious climate plan including carbon pricing against fierce opposition. After six years in Cabinet, she left politics and was appointed chair of the UN’s High Level Expert Group on Net Zero tasked with setting out the criteria for real net zero and calling out greenwashing. She remains what she calls a “stubborn climate optimist” but she is also a realist. In her lecture she will reflect on her time in politics, and what she has learned about making change happen — change she believes the world needs now more than ever.

Speaker:

Catherine McKenna is Canada’s former Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister of Infrastructure. She is Principal of Climate and Nature Solutions, chaired the UN Secretary General’s Expert Group on Net-Zero, is a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University and launched Women Leading on Climate. As Minister of Environment and Climate Change, she was a lead negotiator of the Paris Agreement, negotiated Canada’s climate change plan including a coal phase out and price on carbon, brought in a new Impact Assessment Act for major projects and doubled the amount of nature protected in Canada. Internationally she co-founded the Powering Past Coal Coalition and the Ministerial on Climate Action. As Minister of Infrastructure, she made historic investments in sustainable infrastructure including leveraging private sector investment through the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Prior to entering politics, Catherine practiced law in Canada and Indonesia, was a lead negotiator with the UN Peacekeeping Mission to East Timor and founded Level Justice. She is a mother to three kids and is an avid open water swimmer.

Chair:

Nicholas Rivers – Associate Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Faculty of Social Sciences and Director, Graduate Studies – Institute of the Environment