Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has accepted the role of special envoy for climate action and finances, the United Nations has announced.
Carney, who is the current Governor of the Bank of England, has pushed the climate issue in the financial sphere. He’ll take on his special envoy role with the United Nations, with pay of $1 a year, after stepping down from the British central banker’s job on January 31.
Carney’s successor at the Bank of England has not yet been named after the selection process was disrupted by Brexit and the upcoming British general election. That’s boosted speculation that Carney may be asked to extend his term at the central bank for a third time, although Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said last month that he saw no need for such a move.
Carney has talked about the risks of climate change since at least 2015 when he used a speech at Lloyds of London to warn that the phenomenon imposed "a cost on future generations that the current generation has no direct incentive to fix." In October, he told the Guardian that companies and industries that aren’t moving toward zero-carbon emissions will be punished by investors and face bankruptcy.
