The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate and Finance, Mark Carney is a globally recognized economist, public servant, and climate action advocate.

Carney has served as governor of both the Bank of England (2013–20) and the Bank of Canada (2008–13), heading the central banks of two of the world’s leading economies. He is also advisor to the British prime minister for the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled to take place in Scotland in November 2021, and he leads environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategy for Brookfield Asset Management, where he is vice chair.

“My passion is to channel private initiatives for the public good. For me, that means joining economic dynamism with fairness, responsibility, and compassion.”  

A Harvard College graduate with a doctorate from Oxford, he delivered the BBC’s 2020 Reith Lectures, emphasizing the need to take fuller account of human values in market economies dominated by financial value. Honored as an Officer of the Order of Canada, he has served on boards of the World Economic Forum, Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, INSEAD’s Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, and the Peterson Institute of International Economics. 

“Combining excellence with inclusiveness is a defining challenge of our time. My experience in public service and the private sector has underscored the importance of pathbreaking research in fields as diverse as economics, health care, and climate physics as well as the value of a well-rounded liberal arts education. Harvard has singular opportunities to excel at both.”