Mark Carney confirms he will not run federally, committed to climate action as UN envoy

"I thought long and hard on this because I believe strongly in public service and in the government’s agenda, which I fully support," Carney said in an interview Tuesday with the Canadian Press. "In the end, despite the temptation to run and wrestle with it, a commitment’s a commitment."

Carney serves as the UN special envoy on climate action and finance for the Trudeau Liberals. He also chairs the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, aiming to fuse banks and asset management firms globally to produce a net-zero economy.

"It’s a critical time in the COP26 process," he said: "I made commitments to the (UN) secretary-general and the UK prime minister to organize the private sector for net-zero, for a net-zero economy, and we have tremendous momentum, and I don’t want to break that momentum." Carney said this is how he can make the best contribution possible for Canada, and "arguably the world."

However, he did not rule out an election bid for the Liberals later on, as he has been widely considered a viable leadership candidate for close to a decade. In 2012, Carney flirted with running for party leadership, but amid criticism, partisanship undermined the neutrality needed for a central banker. He curbed speculation by denying any interest publicly. He said he’d instead become a "circus clown" before relinquishing his role as governor of the Bank of Canada for governor of the Bank of England.

He returned to Canada last summer.