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About
Dr. Merethe Dotterud Leiren is a political scientist, specialising in climate and energy policy at the EU and national level. Her research focus is in the area of governance and legitimacy, where she is particularly interested in issues that arise in connection with the transition.
More specifically, her focus is concerned with the authorities' ability to govern in the transition to a low emission society, given increasing complexity and time pressure, lack of coordination, global conflicts and the energy challenges in Europe.
Her research looks at the effects of the EU's climate and energy policy in EU member states and non-member states. Questions she addresses include the implications of the EU's Green Deal on Norway and how these consequences differ to those of EU member states.
She is also particularly interested in the introduction of new technologies. Leiren has contributed with solutions that can balance various environmental, social and economic considerations, focusing on the development of wind power in Norway.
She is a well known speaker in these fields, speaking at national and global events and in high-level dialogue meetings.
Leiren’s expertise in qualitative methods, comparative work and institutional theory to explain the development of climate and energy policies has – in cooperation with researchers from related fields – allowed her to deliver key projects such as those funded by the Research Council of Norway and pan-European projects such the EU H2020.
She has also published widely on the mentioned themes and has among others co-edited three books: Norway’s EU experience and lessons for the UK (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming, with John Erik Fossum, Christopher Lord, Fay Farstad, Arild A. Farsund, Espen D. H. Olsen, Marianne Riddervold, Johanne D. Saltnes, Øyvind Svendsen and Jarle Trondal), Towards Sustainable Welfare States in Europe (Edward Elgar, 2022 with Mi Ah Schøyen and Bjørn Hvinden), Comparative Renewables Policy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, with Elin Lerum Boasson and Jørgen Wettestad).
Leiren has a part time position at ARENA Center for European Studies, University of Oslo. Before she started working at CICERO, she was a senior researcher at the Institute of Transport Economics, hence has a background in transport research. Leiren has been a PhD research fellow at the University of Agder (Norway) and has served as a visiting researcher at the Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany). She has a MA from the University of Michigan (USA) and has studied at the University of Freiburg (Germany). The government appointed her a member of the Norwegian Commission for Norwegian Air Transport. She has been a member of the evaluation panel for the Academy of Finland’s JUST ENERGY call and the Swedish Energy Agency’s call for research within the programme Human, Energy Systems and Society. She served as an expert in the mid-term evaluation of the Swedish research programme on climate.
Articles
Projects
Events
COP29: Towards sustainable consumption – the need for policies that work. Examples from the Nordic countries
14:30 - 15.15 at COP29 in Baku, 11.30 - 12.15 CET online
In rich countries, consumption-based GHG emissions are typically higher than territorial GHG emissions. Both types of emissions have decreased but too slow to be in line with international agreements. In this seminar a recent report from the Nordic Council of Ministers (Policy Options for Reducing Consumption-Based Emissions - A Nordic Survey) is presented. The report suggests efficient policies that address GHGs, other pollutants and also improve public health as well as environmental quality.