Katya Rhodes Global Sustainability Leader
October 28, 2025
For her timely and tireless work advancing climate change policy solutions, UVic professor and ACET researcher Katya Rhodes received the prestigious 2025 Emerging Sustainability Leader Award at the 11th World Sustainability Forum in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this month.
Presented by the, the award honours outstanding early-career researchers who have made exceptional contributions to sustainability research.
“Dr. Katya Rhodes is a recognized expert and a leading policy architect of climate change solutions at national, sub-national, and municipal government levels,” says Mark Jaccard, Distinguished Professor at Simon Fraser University, who nominated Rhodes for the award.
“[Her] solutions-oriented approach bridges two distinct worlds: the language of political decision-makers and the language of academics. She translates research into lay language to promote flexible regulations [and] allow for greater innovation and more compromise on global climate action.”
In addition to her work teaching climate policy to the next generation of sustainability leaders in the School of Public Administration, Rhodes is an active member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) and , which advises the federal government on policies that advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
She was recently named lead author for a chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report that focuses on reducing or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in sectors such as energy, transportation, industry, buildings, agriculture and land use —a key resource for international climate negotiations like the annual.
With ACET, Rhodes’ Realizing the Energy Transition project promotes an equitable shift to clean energy in Western Canada by finding practical policies that reduce emissions while protecting livelihoods for workers and communities that depend on fossil fuels.
Launched in 2024, the six-year project has already conducted large-scale surveys in small and medium western Canadian communities to understand how people and businesses perceive economic impacts posed by climate policies and what justice measures can accelerate the energy transition without public backlash.
Rhodes shared early results from this research at the World Sustainability Forum, as part of the award ceremony.
“In the age of climate setbacks and misinformation, it’s deeply fulfilling to see my efforts to protect humanity recognized through this award. I’m grateful and inspired to shape bold policies that turn my vision of thriving zero-emission economies into reality. Let’s all celebrate our victories—big and small—and choose positivity every day. Even in the noise, light always finds a way through.”
— Katya Rhodes