Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, has announced that Catherine Stewart has been appointed Canada’s new Ambassador for Climate Change.
Stewart, who previously served as Canada’s chief negotiator on climate change, will advise both the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Foreign Affairs on how Canada can best continue advancing its climate change priorities on the world stage. With over eight years of international experience in environment and climate change, including most recently as Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s International Affairs Branch, Stewart is uniquely qualified to work closely with Canadian missions abroad to advance the Government of Canada’s environmental agenda on the world stage. She will help shepherd Canada’s ongoing work on international climate finance, promote the country’s clean technology sector to global investors and reinforce the growing global consensus on the importance of protecting nature and tackling climate change together.
“Humanity shares a single atmosphere, and there is no Planet B. That’s why the global challenge of climate change requires global solutions. I am thrilled to welcome Catherine Stewart as Canada’s new Ambassador for Climate Change,” said Guilbeault. “Her exemplary work, most recently as Assistant Deputy Minister of International Affairs at Environment and Climate Change Canada, ensures a seamless transition in this very busy year of climate diplomacy.”
With both the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) in Egypt this November and the COP15 UN global biodiversity conference scheduled for December in Montreal, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change is a critical position in this pivotal decade of climate action.
Catherine Stewart, Canada’s new Ambassador for Climate Change. Credit: Catherine Stewart/Twitter.
Stewart succeeds Patricia Fuller, who served as Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change and helped raise Canada’s climate action profile internationally.
“When it comes to cutting pollution while creating jobs and economic growth, countries around the world are looking to Canada for leadership, guidance, and solutions,” said Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. “As Canada’s new Ambassador for Climate Change, Catherine Stewart will drive Canada’s continued collaboration with the international community to build a clean, healthy future for everyone – here in Canada and beyond.”
The mandate for Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change is multifaceted:
- coordinating with Canadian missions to put the Government of Canada’s environmental policies into practice, particularly as those policies relate to climate change
- providing advice on climate change considerations to ministers of Environment and Climate Change, Foreign Affairs, International Development, and International Trade
- leading targeted engagements with key partner countries on clean growth and climate change
- representing Canada in international cooperative initiatives related to climate change
- collaborating with Canada’s Chief Negotiator for Climate Change to support and advance Canada’s international climate change negotiations objectives
- developing and managing relationships with key opinion leaders and stakeholders, and
- promoting Canada’s clean growth and climate change priorities
Canada’s Climate Change Ambassador is appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office on a full-time basis for a term of up to three years.
Featured image credit: Nong Vang/Unsplash.
