Catherine Monagle is the Manager of the Secretariat of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT), a collaborative initiative co-led by Brazil and Australia. The IFCCT Secretariat is hosted jointly by the Forum on Trade, Environment & the SDGs (TESS) at the Geneva Graduate Institute and the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA.

Catherine is an international lawyer, policy and programme management professional with more than two decades of experience working at the intersection of climate change, trade, biodiversity, sustainable development, intellectual property, and human rights. Catherine brings extensive expertise in intergovernmental processes, governance design, and the management of complex multi-stakeholder initiatives involving governments, international organizations, research institutions, and civil society actors.

At the IFCCT, Catherine leads Secretariat governance and operations. Prior to joining the IFCCT, Catherine led international work on climate mitigation, carbon markets, and innovative emissions reduction methodologies across Africa, Latin America, and Asia for the International Savanna Fire Management Initiative (ISFMI). In this role, she contributed to the development of one of the first UNFCCC Article 6.4 methodologies released for public consultation and managed partnerships involving governments, multilateral donors, the private sector, research institutions, and local communities.

Catherine has previously worked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, the University of Oxford Global Economic Governance Programme, the Government of Victoria, and the Center for International Environmental Law. She has undertaken consultancies for a range of international organizations and institutions, including the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Governments of Queensland and New South Wales, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Catherine holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Australian National University, a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB (Hons)) from Monash University and Leiden University, and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Monash University. She is admitted to practice as an Australian Legal Practitioner. In her spare time, Catherine performs in theatre, plans one day to retire alongside a small herd of mountain goats, and submits to perpetual heartbreak as an avid supporter of Torino FC.