Last week, Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy named John Kerry the 2026 Carnot Prize recipient in recognition of his climate advocacy.
Kerry, the former United States secretary of state, was honored at a Sept. 17 ceremony held at the Penn Museum that multiple University administrators attended. During the event, Kleinman Center faculty fellow Cary Coglianese delivered a lecture in Kerry’s honor.
Coglianese, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, wrote in a statement that it was “especially meaningful to celebrate an extraordinary public leader like Secretary Kerry.”
He added that Kerry has “worked so tirelessly on both domestic and global policy fronts to tackle climate change concerns.”
Prior to serving as secretary of state under Former President Barack Obama, Kerry served as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts for nearly 30 years. He also took on the role of special presidential envoy for climate under Former President and Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor Joe Biden.
The Kleinman Center annually awards the Carnot Prize to an individual who has made “distinguished contributions” to energy policy through scholarship or practice. Kerry is the 10th such recipient.
According to the announcement, he was selected for advocating for climate crisis diplomacy and solutions that “achieve a just and sustainable energy transition.” As secretary of state, he “helped secure the landmark Paris Agreement,” and as climate envoy, he “energized the UAE Consensus at COP28, a breakthrough agreement between nearly 200 countries to transition away from fossil fuels for the very first time.”
Kerry currently serves as a visiting distinguished statesman for global climate and ocean affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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“We are so grateful for his courage, intellect, and dedication to this important work,” Kleinman Center faculty director and vice provost for climate Sanya Carley wrote in the announcement.
During the event, Kerry said that he was “honored” to receive the prize and “be associated with a remarkable community of leaders who have dedicated their lives to advancing good energy policy.”
He also emphasized his concern about climate change and stressed the importance of transitioning to renewable energy.
As chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Kerry devoted his first hearing to climate diplomacy. He has also advocated for government leaders to stop financing coal projects, adopt power purchase agreements for renewable energy, and speed up permitting for wind and solar projects.
“We all must dedicate ourselves, in our own ways, and at whatever scale, to what he has so well exemplified: sacrifice, dedication, and the pursuit of excellence and honor in service to others,” Coglianese wrote in the statement.
