Alexander Ochs, Director, Climate and Energy Program

Contact Information
Department: Research
Title: Director, Climate and Energy Program
Email: aochs@worldwatch.org
Phone: +1 (202) 452-1992 x511

Alexander Ochs is Director of Climate and Energy at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C. where he leads a growing team of researchers, is a member of the Institute’s management team, a chief editor of the renowned Re|Volt blog and a co-editor of Connected. His areas of expertise include climate, energy and environment policies of many African nations, Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America, China, India, Europe, and North America; international climate negotiations; energy roadmaps, sustainable development and low-carbon growth strategies; global governance and U.N. reform; transatlantic relations; North-South and South-South cooperation; environmental security.

Since 2007, Alexander acts as President of the Forum for Atlantic Climate and Energy Talks (FACET). Currently a senior fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University and an adjunct lecturer in George Washington University’s Sustainable Urban Planning Program, he has held senior research and teaching positions at the Center for Clean Air Policy, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, CUNY, as well as Munich, Princeton, Freie and Humboldt universities. Alexander has been on many international advisory boards, was a member of the German delegation to the UN climate negotiations, an Aspen Institute Young Leader and an elected member of tt-30. In 2011, he received the Sustainable Future Award of the Austrian Academic Forum for Foreign Affairs.

A co-editor of three books, director of two documentary films, and author of numerous scholarly articles, reports and policy papers, Alexander contributes frequently to public media, for example as a regular commentator for Deutsche Welle, Germany's public international broadcaster, Wiener Zeitung (Austria), Katerva (U.K.), and Grist Magazine (USA).

Please find Alexander's full bio here.

Areas of Expertise:

Alexander Ochs’ has worked extensively on climate and energy policies of the United Nations, Brazil, China, India, Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, and other countries and regions. His areas of expertise further include: international environmental negotiations; costs and opportunities of low-emissions growth strategies; sustainable energy roadmaps at the municipal, state, national and regional levels; ways to forge a green new deal and induce a third industrial revolution; global governance and U.N. reform; transatlantic relations; environmental security.

Selected Presentations:

  • "The Solar Energy Success Story – and How to Write a Good Next Chapter," 2011 International Green Energy Economy Conference, Crystal City, 28 Jul
  • "Designing and Implementing Low Carbon Development Strategies: Learning Lessons from the Ground," SBSTA meetings, workshop of the International Climate Initiative (ICI), Bonn, 11 Jun 2011
  • "Assessment, Knowledge, Action – Climate Change and the Transatlantic Partnership," Aspen Wye River Center, conference “Assessing Risk in Transatlantic Relations,” Jun 4 2011
  • "Shale Gas. A game changer for European energy security? Working Group on Implications for Investments, Renewables and a Shift Towards a Low Carbon Economy," European University, 13 May 2011, Budapest (commentator/panelist)
  • "Designing a Wind & Energy Roadmap in the Dominican Republic," Comision Nacional de Energia, Santo Domingo, 14 Apr 2011 (presenter/workshop co-host)
  • "Nuevos Desarrolos en Energia Limpia," US Chamber of Commerce/American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic’s business conference Energia Limpia 2011, Santo Domingo/DR, 17 Feb 2011 (presenter/panelist)
  • "Energy Roadmaps for Developing Countries," Monterey Institute for International Studies, Berkeley, 14 Feb 2011 (lecture, per Teleconference)
  • "Policy seminar, Energy and Environment, Panel 1: Policy and Goals," with Elliot Diringer, David Goldston, and David Book, US State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, Policy Leadership Division, 10 Feb 2011 (chair/moderator)
  • "Key Energy and Environment Challenges," National Science Foundation, Arlington/Virginia, 8 Feb 2011 (presentation)
  • "Debate on Global Climate-Change Policy," with David Goldston, Alexander Ochs, and Roger Pielke, Jr, Austrian Embassy, Washington DC, 14 Dec 2010 (panelist/moderator)
  • "Low-Carbon Energy Roadmaps," UNFCCC COP 16 Side Event of the European Climate Foundation, EU Pavilion, Cancun, 2 Dec 2010 (presenter/panelist)
  • "Low-carbon Energy Roadmaps: Insights from Those Who Are Leading the Way;" UNFCCC COP 16 Side Event of the Worldwatch Institute, Cancunmesse, Cancun 6 December (presenter/panelist)
  • "Low carbon emissions growth strategies – Case studies from India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines"on invitation of SID-Washington Energy & Infrastructure Workgroup, Development Alternatives International, and the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies (SAIS) Energy Club; SAIS, Wasington DC, 10 Nov 2010
  • "Low Carbon Energy Roadmaps in the Caribbean,"  on invitation of U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of State, 27 October 2010, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
  • “After Copenhagen – What Next for Transatlantic Environmental Cooperation?” Center for Transatlantic Relations & EU Center of Excellence Washington, DC, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, 1 Feb 2010
  •  "Low-carbon development between New Delhi and Washington DC: Who's leading who?", TERI University, 15 September 2010
  • "Strengthening India’s Low Carbon Strategy," India International Centre, New Delhi, 13 September 2010
  • "Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030," REEEP Project Leaders Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, 9 July, 2010
  • "Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in China: Current Status and Potentials in 2020," REEEP Project Leaders Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, 8 July, 2010
  • "The future of climate protection post-Copenhagen – Regional leaders’ responsibility and prospects of international policy coordination," on invitation of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, GTZ, and Centro Brasileiro de Relatioes Internacionais, Rio de Janeiro, 30 April 2010
  • "Energy Efficiency: Potential and Scenarios," Ecologic/Worldwatch Policy Development Workshop, Washington DC, 23 April 2010
  • "2030 Energy scenarios: What renewables and energy efficiency can deliver," on invitation of Transatlantic Climate Bridge/German Embassy/Worldwatch,  Brookings Institution, 18 Nov 2010

For a full list of Alexander ‘s presentations, please see his full CV here.

 

Selected Publications

For a full list of Alexander ‘s publications, please see his full CV here.