A lifetime award for three decades of climate work
Former United States environmental chief Gina McCarthy has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Reuters Events Global Sustainability Awards, recognising more than three decades at the forefront of America’s work for cleaner air, safer water and a liveable climate.
McCarthy, who led the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017 and later served as White House national climate adviser, accepted the award by video from her home outside Boston. Speaking to The Ethical Corporation before the ceremony, she said she remained optimistic about the direction of clean energy: “I’m really bullish on what’s happening next.”
Heading to COP31 with America Is All In
McCarthy will carry that message to the United Nations climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, next month as chair of America Is All In, a coalition of US cities, states, businesses and community groups. According to the coalition, its members represent around two-thirds of the US population and three-quarters of US GDP, and it will run a pavilion at COP31 from 12 to 16 November, marking its ninth consecutive year at the climate talks.
The coalition’s case, as McCarthy presented it, is that state and local governments are driving the energy transition from below. She pointed to Illinois, which has passed legislation to add 3 gigawatts of battery storage to its grid by 2030, and California, which plans to modernise its carbon credit programme. Cleveland, Ohio, is pursuing a five-year plan to cut emissions by nearly two-thirds against 2018 levels, while Texas, she noted, is home to a substantial share of the record solar and battery projects added to the US grid in the past year.
Data centres: the new test for cities
One issue McCarthy singled out is the rapid growth of data centres, whose demand for electricity and water is rising fast as artificial intelligence expands. She pointed to the C40 Global Urban Data Centres Pact, a mayor-led initiative endorsed by 49 cities, including 22 in the United States, among them Chicago, Austin, Seattle and Miami. The pact seeks greater public accountability in how resource-hungry data centres are planned, asking that they use resources efficiently, fit into city plans and share benefits with host communities.
“They are one of the fastest-growing challenges that we have in the United States,” McCarthy said. “There has to be a way to ensure that they can do their thing without destroying us.” She argued that tax revenues from data centres should help fund renewable energy projects and community infrastructure.
Why she stays optimistic
McCarthy’s optimism rests on economics as much as policy. According to Reuters, US investment in the global clean energy transition runs at around $378 billion, and the business-backed Corporate Energy Buyers Association reports that corporate-sponsored clean energy projects in 2025 exceeded the total power generation of 45 individual US states.
Federal environmental rules have changed in recent months, including plans at the Environmental Protection Agency on greenhouse gas regulation for the power sector. McCarthy did not hide her disagreement with those changes, but her message at the awards was about momentum elsewhere: state and local governments, businesses and cities, she said, are working together to drive a more aggressive energy transition.
Key facts
- Gina McCarthy received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Reuters Events Global Sustainability Awards 2026.
- She led the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017 and later served as White House national climate adviser.
- She chairs America Is All In, a coalition of US cities, states, businesses and community groups heading to COP31 in Antalya.
- She cited Illinois battery storage, California’s carbon credit programme and Cleveland’s emissions plan as examples of local action.
- The C40 Global Urban Data Centres Pact, backed by 49 cities including 22 in the US, seeks accountability for data centre energy and water use.
Read more about the road to Antalya in our earlier coverage of the COP31 venue in Antalya.
