[4] Le Quéré was born in Quebec in 1966 and as a child spent her camping holidays in the national parks of Eastern Canada which fostered her interest in the natural world.

[6] On 3 February 2023, Le Quéré was a guest on BBC's Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 (presented by Lauren Laverne).

As an imaginary Castaway she chose a mask and snorkel as her luxury items and, for her favourite disc, La Vida Es Un Carnaval by Celia Cruz.

She conducted research at Princeton University in the US (1992–1996), at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany (2000–2005), and jointly between the UEA and the British Antarctic Survey in the UK (2005–2010).

[19] In 2019, Le Quéré was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to climate change science.