Cate Hight

Cate Hight leads Rocky Mountain Institute’s efforts to elevate the importance of industrial decarbonization in the global climate action system. In collaboration with partners in business and civil society, Cate brings leading industrial actors together to seek agreement on decarbonization pathways and take action to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Cate also leads RMI’s work to develop a first of its kind product standard for natural gas differentiated according to its upstream methane emissions. Leveraging her deep expertise in climate policy and market mechanisms, Cate works with oil and gas operators, regulators, purchasers and consumers to build the market for differentiated gas and improve the industry’s climate performance.

Background
Cate spent ten years at the US Environmental Protection Agency where she led the agency’s work on carbon market development, played lead roles in the development of key greenhouse gas regulations, and co-authored the annual US Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks. Before joining RMI, Cate managed the oil and gas program of the Global Methane Initiative, a public-private partnership of 45 countries and private-sector actors dedicated to methane abatement, recovery, and use.
Prior to EPA, Cate worked for the Mission Climat of the Caisse des Depots in Paris (now I4CE), where she co-authored Pricing Carbon, a book assessing the performance of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. She has also held positions at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and as committee staff in the US House of Representatives.

Education
Master of Public Policy, University of Chicago
BA in Romance Languages, Washington and Lee University