Michael Mehling is Deputy Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, and a Professor at the University of Strathclyde Law School in Glasgow. In his work, he focuses on climate policy design and implementation at the domestic and international level, including its intersections with environmental, energy, financial market, and trade policy.
For more than two decades, he has coordinated research, advisory and capacity building projects on these topics for international organizations, government agencies, private companies, and civil society organizations in North America, Europe, and the developing world. He has advised decision makers in over a dozen countries, testified before or briefed legislators in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, and served as an expert in several climate litigation and arbitration cases.
As part of his activities, he has also helped build several institutions and initiatives in the areas of climate law and policy. He is a founding board member, inter alia, of the European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) in Brussels, the Blockchain & Climate Institute (BCI) in London, and the Ecologic Institute in Washington, DC, as well as the founding editor of Carbon & Climate Law Review (CCLR), the first academic quarterly journal focused on climate law and regulation.
Additionally, he serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Climate Strategies in London and Ecologic Institute in Berlin, a Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility (IKEM) in Berlin, and a Commissioner with the Commission on Carbon Competitiveness (C3) in Ottawa, ON, a Policy Advisor of the Center for Climate and Trade at the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) in Washington, DC, and an Associate Researcher with the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge.
His research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals in international law, environmental law and policy, and climate and energy law and policy, and his subject-matter expertise has featured in various mainstream media outlets, including Bloomberg, The Economist, Financial Times, Globe and Mail, National Public Radio, NBC News, New York Times, Politico, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Trained as a lawyer, he is a German and American citizen, and has lived for extended periods in Europe, the United States, and Latin America.
Expertise
International and Comparative Climate Law and Policy; Industrial Policy; Carbon Pricing; Climate Finance; Climate and Trade; Capacity Building
Degrees
LL.D., Environmental Law, University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland)
LL.M., International Law, University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland)
First State Examination in Law, University of Constance (Constance, Germany)
Second State Examination in Law, Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (Hamburg, Germany)