Hello,

Carbon Brief has just published the first in-depth interview with Rachel Kyte since she was appointed last October to be the UK government’s special representative on climate.

For more than a decade, Kyte has been one of the most experienced and influential voices at COPs via her roles at the UN, World Bank and Sustainable Energy for All.

More recently, she has held senior roles at Tufts University and the University of Oxford.

Talking to Carbon Brief at the Foreign Office in central London, Kyte covers a variety of topics ranging from Donald Trump’s impact on climate diplomacy through to how the UN’s COP process could be reformed.

With COP30 in Brazil looming, she also speaks about how the world is now looking to China and the EU in the absence of leadership from the US.

There was even time to ask her about her personal “epiphany” on climate change. Her answer references watching a “really badly made movie” at a “very, very, strange meeting somewhere in eastern Europe”.

The interview is also available to watch via our YouTube channel, or listen via SoundCloud.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

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