The Team
Chairholder
Dr. Marc Ringel is the Chairholder at the European Chair for Sustainable Development and Climate Transition at Sciences Po, Paris. As Chairholder, Dr. Ringel contributes to conducting research and teaching courses at Sciences Po.
Dr. Ringel is the director of the Institut franco-allemand (dfi) and full professor at Nuertingen Geislingen University, Stuttgart, Germany. Furthermore he is senior associate researcher with the University of Brussels, Belgium (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and affiliated lecturer with Université d’Aix en Provence/Marseille, France. He leads multidisciplinary research on green transitions in the energy and climate field, focussing on the role of public governance.
He continues to be deeply involved in the development and economic assessment of energy and climate policies, drawing on his work experiences as national expert with the Directorate General Energy of the European Commission, as first embassy secretary of the German representation to the OECD (German Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and as deputy head of the German Federal Ministry of Economics, Energy and Climate. Through his research and consultancy, he supports the European Commission, several European governments as well as stakeholders in the energy sector. The Dutch and the German parliament have solicited his expertise on energy and public governance issues in parliamentary hearings.
Over the last decade, Marc Ringel has taught graduate level courses at several international universities on environmental economics, climate & energy policies, and European governance. At Sciences Po, he teaches graduate courses on sustainable transitions and on the European Green Deal. He has conducted numerous international training events on energy, climate and environmental policy design and evaluations of national energy and climate strategies. At present, he conducts research in the framework of the German excellence research programmes of “Energy Systems of the Future” and “Kopernikus – Ariadne”, funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education.
Dr. Ringel’s publications cover a range of topics and issues: Energy efficiency policies; Renewable Energy policies; public governance and management; climate and energy strategies and related impact assessments. He is topic editor and regular reviewer for several peer reviewed journals in the energy and climate fields. Currently he is working on the review of stakeholder analyses related to various elements of the European Green Deal.
Dr. Ringel received his habilitation from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. He holds a Ph.D. in economics (focus on the political economics) from the Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany and has studied economics (masters’ degree) at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany and Université d’Angers, France. He is member of the Climate Policy Council of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and member of the scientific board of the European Union’s Covenant of Mayors. Marc Ringel acts as ambassador of the European Climate Pact and the European Commission’s Team Europe Direct. He supports several national and international organisations with his expertise and review of scientific studies.
Senior research programme manager
Sarah Thompson is the senior research programme manager for the European Chair for Sustainable Development and Climate Transition at Sciences Po. She is conducting research on topics surrounding the just transition and the European Green Deal for the Chair while working on a PhD focused on international climate finance. Prior to her role at the Chair, she managed the 3-year European project CIVICA Research at Sciences Po, as well as worked with the United Nations Population Fund and on a public health research project in Vancouver, Canada.
Sarah completed a dual master’s degree in International Affairs at Sciences Po Paris and in International Political Economy at The London School of Economics and Political Science. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a specialisation in international development, environment, and economic issues from Simon Fraser University in Canada.
Committees of the Chair
The committees responsible for governing the Chair’s activities are the Scientific Committee and the Steering Committee.