OCHS NEWS

Welcome!

Based in Washington DC, I consult governments and private actors on issues relating to climate change, energy, the environment as well as development policy. Specific areas of expertise include international climate negotiations; domestic climate and energy policies of the United States and Europe as well as China, India, and other major developing and emerging countries; opportunities and costs of a green new deal and a third industrial revolution; global governance and U.N. reform; as well as environmental security issues. I have an extensive network of friends and colleagues working in these areas as well, and have developed a fifteen year track record working with some of the key decision-makers.

As director of the energy and climate program at the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organization recognized by opinion leaders around the world for its accessible, fact-based analysis of critical global issues, I provide strategic leadership to a great team of colleagues based all over the world, represent the Institute before public and private decision makers and the media, lead the Institute’s fundraising in the field, and provide overall management and supervision of the program. I am also the founding director of the Forum for Atlantic Climate and Energy Talks (FACET) and a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Johns Hopkins University.

Before joining Worldwatch, I was Director of International Policy at the Center for Clean Air Policy, a world leader in climate and air-quality policy headquartered in Washington, D.C. (2008-9). From 2001 to 2007, I worked as a senior research associate in the global issues department of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. At the SWP, I co-founded and later directed the International Network to Advance Climate Talks (INTACT)

I have held research and teaching positions at the City University of New York (CUNY), Princeton University, Munich University, as well as at the Freie and Humboldt Universities in Berlin. I have been a member of the German delegation to the U.N. climate negotiations and various advisory committees on both sides of the Atlantic. A co-editor of two books and author of numerous scholarly articles and policy papers, I contribute frequently to public media, e.g., as a regular commentator for Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public international broadcaster, Wiener Zeitung (Austria) and Grist Magazine and Worldwatch’s Dateline Copenhagen for which I am the chief editor. I received various scholarships and research grants, was named a Young Leader by the Aspen Institute and served as elected member of tt30, a think tank of the Club of Rome. A graduate of Munich and Cologne universities, I speak English and German fluently, and understand French and Italian if you talk slowly.

In my job positions and as a private consultant, I have advised the European Union, the German government, the Bundestag, the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as other key political players all over Europe; selected offices of the U.S. Congress and the executive governmental branch; and developing country governments both on the fedearl and sub-federal level. Additional consultancy for, and joint collaborative efforts with, amongst others: Adelphi, BP, BASF, The Brookings Institution, California Energy Commission, Centre for European Policy Studies, Climate Action Network, Climate Advisers, Climate Policy Centre, Deutsche Telekom, Ecologic, Eon, German Marshall Fund of the United States, GLOBUS, Green Pearls Consulting, International Climate Change Partnership, Italian Ministry for the Environment, PEMEX Mexico, Meridian Institute, Shell, Sustainable Enterprise Management, World Wildlife Fund.

You can find a full CV here.

Please also check out my publications/media and presentations/teaching pages.

In all matters including consultancy offers, please use the contact form below.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Alexander