Breadcrumb
Thomas Hale’s research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly. He seeks to explain how political institutions evolve – or not – to face the challenges raised by globalisation and interdependence, with a particular emphasis on environmental, economic and health issues. He holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University, a master's degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics, and an AB in public policy from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. A US national, Professor Hale has studied and worked in Argentina, China and Europe. His books include Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time (Princeton 2024), Beyond Gridlock (Polity 2017), Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes (Cambridge 2015), Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge 2014), and Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing when We Need It Most (Polity 2013). Professor Hale co-leads the Net Zero Tracker and the Net Zero Regulation and Policy Hub.
External links
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
- with David Shaw et al., “Trends in invasive bacterial diseases during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of prospective surveillance data from 30 countries and territories in the IRIS Consortium,” The Lancet Digital Health (5(9) pp. e582-e593.
- with Emily Cameron-Blake,. et al. “A panel dataset of COVID-19 vaccination policies in 185 countries.” Nature Human Behaviour 7, 1402–1413 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01615-8
- with Chan, S., Deneault, A. et al. Assessing the effectiveness of orchestrated climate action from five years of summits. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 628–633 (2022).
- with Chuyu Liu and Johannes Urpelainen (2023). “Explaining the energy mix in China’s electricity projects under the belt and road initiative.” Environmental Politics, 32(7) pp 1117-1139. DOI: 10.1080/09644016.2022.2087355
- with Isaac Weldon, et al. “Governing Global Antimicrobial Resistance: 6 Key Lessons from the Paris Climate Agreement.” American Journal of Public Health. April 2022, Vol 112, No. 4
- with Jessica Green, Jennifer Hadden & Paasha Mahdavi (2022) “Transition, hedge, or resist? Understanding political and economic behavior toward decarbonization in the oil and gas industry.” Review of International Political Economy, 29:6, 2036.
- with Stephen M. Smith, Richard Black, Kate Cullen, Byron Fay, John Lang & Saba Mahmood (2022) Assessing the rapidly-emerging landscape of net zero targets, Climate Policy, 22:1, 18-29, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2021.2013155
- with Fankhauser, S., Smith, S.M., Allen, M. et al. The meaning of net zero and how to get it right. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 15–21 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01245-w
- with Paasha Mahdvi et al. 2022. “Using Earnings Calls to Understand the Political Behavior of Major Polluters.” Global Environmental Politics. 2022. 22(1) pp 159-174.
- with Rafael Goldszmidt et al. “Protective Behaviors Against COVID-19 by Individual Vaccination Status in 12 Countries During the Pandemic”. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(10):e2131137. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.31137
- with Jen Allan et al. 2023. “Making the Paris Agreement: Historical Processes and the Drivers of Institutional Design.” Political Studies. 71(3) pp. 914-934. doi: 10.1177/00323217211049294
- with Jessica Green et al. (2021). “Transition, hedge, or resist? Understanding political and economic behavior toward decarbonization in the oil and gas industry,” Review of International Political Economy, DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2021.1946708
- with Anna Petherick et al. “A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue.” Nat Hum Behav 5, 1145–1160 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01181-x
- Hale et al. (2021) Government responses and COVID-19 deaths: Global evidence across multiple pandemic waves. PLOS ONE 16(7): e0253116. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253116
- with Angela Breuggemann et al. 2021. “Changes in the incidence of invasive disease due to Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis during the COVID-19 pandemic in 26 countries and territories in the Invasive Respiratory Infection Surveillance Initiative: a prospective analysis of surveillance data.” Lancet Digital Health. Volume 3 Issue 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(21)00077-7
- Hale et al. 2021. “A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker).” Nat Hum Behav 5, 529–538 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01079-8
- with Sander Chan et al. (2021), Climate Ambition and Sustainable Development for a New Decade: A Catalytic Framework. Glob. Policy, 12: 245-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12932
- Hale et al. (2021) Government responses and COVID-19 deaths: Global evidence across multiple pandemic waves. PLOS ONE 16(7): e0253116. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253116
- 'Catalytic Cooperation', Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 73–98.
- with Lui et al. (2020) 'Correcting course: the emission reduction potential of international cooperative initiatives', Climate Policy, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2020.1806021.
- Hale et al. (2021) Sub- and non-state climate action: a framework to assess progress, implementation and impact, Climate Policy, 21:3, 406-420, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2020.1828796
- with Jeffery Colgan and Jessica Green (2021). “Asset Revaluation and the Existential Politics of Climate Change.” International Organization, 75(2), 586-610. doi:10.1017/S0020818320000296
- with Kuramochi et al. 'Beyond national climate action: the impact of region, city, and business commitments on global greenhouse gas emissions.' Climate Policy, Vol 20, No. 3 (2020) pp. 275–291.
- 'Transnational Actors and Transnational Governance in Environmental Politics,' Annual Review of Political Science, Vol 23, 2020.
- with Doyne Farmer, Cameron Hepburn, et al., 'Sensitive intervention points in the post-carbon transition,' Science, 12 April 2019, 132-134.
- with Sander Chan, Idil Boran, Harro van Asselt, et al., 'Promises and risks of nonstate action in climate and sustainability governance,' WIREs Climate Change 2019.
- with Angel Hsu et al., 'A Research Roadmap for Quantifying Non-State and Subnational Climate Action.' Nature: Climate Change. 9, pp. 11–17 (2019)
- with Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, 'Could global democracy satisfy diverse policy values? An empirical analysis,' Journal of Politics, 81, no. 1 (January 2019): 112-126.
- with Liliana Andonova and Charles Roger, 'National Policy and Transnational Governance of Climate Change: Substitutes or Complements?' International Studies Quarterly
- with Jessica Green, 'Reversing the Marginalization of Global Environmental Politics in International Relations: An Opportunity for the Discipline,' PS: Political Science and Politics.
- with Charles Roger & Liliana Andonova (2017) 'The Comparative Politics of Transnational Climate Governance," International Interactions,' 43:1, pp. 1-25.
- 'International Sources of Political Order in the People’s Republic of China: A Lacuna in the Fukuyama Framework.' Journal of Chinese Governance, forthcoming.
- “All Hands on Deck”: The Paris Agreement and Nonstate Climate Action. Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 16, No. 3.
- with Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, 'Are Europeans ready for a more democratic European Union? New evidence on preference heterogeneity, polarisation and crosscuttingness,' European Journal of Political Research, forthcoming.
- 'The rule of law in the global economy: Explaining intergovernmental backing for private commercial tribunals.' European Journal of International Relations, October 7, 2014
- with Johannes Urpelainen, 'When and How Can Unilateral Policies Promote the International Diffusion of Environmental Policies and Clean Technology?' Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2014.
- with Charles Roger, 'Orchestration and Transnational Climate Governance,' Review of International Organizations, Vol 9 No 1, 2014.
- with David Held and Kevin Young, 'Gridlock: From Self-reinforcing Interdependence to Second Order Cooperation Problems,' Global Policy, Vol.4 Issue 3, 2013.
- with David Held, 'Gridlock and Innovation in Global Governance: The Partial Transnational Solution,' Global Policy, Vol. 3, Issue 2, 2012.
- 'The de Facto Free Trade Area in East Asia,' Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2011.
- 'Transparency, Accountability, and Global Governance,' Global Governance Vol. 14, January-March 2008.
- with Denise Mauzerall, 'Thinking Globally and Acting Locally: Can the Johannesburg Partnerships Coordinate Action on Sustainable Development?' J. of Environment and Development (Sept. 2004)
Books
- Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing across Time (Princeton University Press, 2024).
- with David Held, Beyond Gridlock (Polity, 2017).
- Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
- with Harriet Bulkeley et al., Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
- with David Held and Kevin Young, Gridlock: Why International Cooperation is Failing when It’s Needed Most (Cambridge: Polity, 2013)
Edited books and special issues
- with David Held et al., Beyond Gridlock. Cambridge: Polity, 2017.
- with Liliana Andonova, special issue of International Interactions, The Comparative Politics of Transnational Climate Governance, 43:1, 2017.
- with David Held, Handbook of Transnational Governance Innovation (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011).
Book chapters
- with Jessica Green. “The Study and Practice of Global Environmental Politics: Policy Influence through Participation.” In D. Maliniak, S. Peterson, R. Powers and M. J. Tierney, Eds., Bridging the Theory-Practice Divide in International Relations (Georgetown University Press, 2020).
- with Harriet Bulkeley, Michele Betsill, Daniel Compagnon, Thomas Hale, Matthew Hoffmann, Peter Newell, and Matthew Paterson, “Transnational Governance: Charting New Directions Post-Paris,” in Andrew Jordan et al., Eds, Governing Climate Change: Polycentricity in Action? (Cambridge: 2018).
- with Charles Roger, “China and Transnational Climate Governance,” in Scott Kennedy, Ed., The Dragon’s Learning Curve (Routledge: 2017).
- “What is the Effect of Transnational Commercial Arbitration on Trade?,” in Walter Mattli and Thomas Dietz, Eds., International Arbitration and Global Governance: Contending Theories and Evidence (Oxford University Press, 2014).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “International Relations, Principal Theories,” in Rudiger Wolfrom, Ed., Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press: forthcoming).
- with Charles Roger, “China and Transnational Climate Governance,” in Scott Kennedy, Ed., The Dragon’s Learning Curve (Routledge: forthcoming).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Transgovernmental Networks,” in Mark Bevir, Ed., The Handbook of Governance (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing, 2010).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Transgovernmental Networks and Multilevel Governance,” in Enderlein, Henrik, Sonja Wälti, and Michael Zürn (Eds.): Handbook on Multi-Level Governance (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2010).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Transgovernmental Networks and Emerging Powers,” in Alan S. Alexandroff and Andrew F. Cooper, Eds., Rising States; Rising Institutions: Can the World Be Governed?(Washington: Brookings Press, 2010).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Calling All Patriots: the Cosmopolitan Appeal of Americanism,” in Cultural Transformations, Henrietta L. Moore and David Held, Eds. (Oneworld Press, October 2007).
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “A Covenant to Make Global Governance Work,” in David Held, Ed., Debating Globalization (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005).
Selected other publications
- with Anna Petherick et al., “What would a data framework for policy responses to pandemic diseases look like?,” Blavatnik School Working Paper, February 2023.
- with Finlay Moorhouse, Toby Ord, and Anne-Marie Slaughter. “Toward a Declaration on Future Generations.” Blavatnik School of Government Policy Brief, 12 January 2023.
- “The Net-Zero Governance Conveyor Belt.” Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. 19 December 2022.
- with Chuyu Liu and Johannes Urpelainen, “Supply and demand for clean power in the Belt and Road: Comparing the Political Economy of Pakistan and Indonesia,” ISEP-SAIS, January 2022.
- "Governing Net Zero: The Conveyor Belt,” Blavatnik School of Government Policy Brief, November 29, 2021.
- with Calder Tsuyuki-Tomlinson, Andrew Higham, and Poorti Sapatnekar, “A vision for the global climate action ecosystem,” Future of Climate Cooperation, November 2021.
- with Andreas Klasen, Norman Ebner, Bianca Krämer, Anastasia Kantzelis, “Towards net zero export credit: Current approaches and next steps,” Blavatnik School of Government Working Paper, July 26, 2021.
- Our Common Agenda – Governing the Future? Global Policy. September 10, 2021.
- with Richard Black et al. (2021). Taking Stock: A global assessment of net zero targets, Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and Oxford Net Zero.
- with Kate Cullen et al., (2021). Leveling up net zero climate leadership in the United States. Smith School Working Paper 21-01.
- with Emily Jones et al, “Governance to support a global green deal,” Future of Climate Cooperation – Blavatnik School of Government, December 2020.
- with Andreas Klasen et al, “ Working towards a commitment to net zero,” Berne Union Annual Yearbook 2020. Berne, 2020.
- Thomas Hale, Chuyu Liu, and Johannes Urpelainen. 2020. Belt and Road Decision-making in China and Recipient Countries: How and To What Extent Does Sustainability Matter? ISEP, BSG, and ClimateWorks Foundation.
- with Nathan Hultman, '"All in" climate diplomacy: How a Biden-Harris administration can leverage city, state, business, and community climate action', The Brookings Institution, November 20, 2020.
- with Allen et al., 'The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting', Oxford Net Zero, September 2020.
- 'An immune system for the body politic: Using social science to control COVID-19', Campaign for Social Science. 8 July 2020.
- 'We really may have just 11 years to save the climate,' Oxford Government Review, November 2019
- 'Can the UK rise to the global leadership challenge on climate?,' Insidetrack, 9 July 2019
- with Jeffrey Colgan and Jessica Green, "The Existential Politics of Climate Change", Global Policy, 21 February 2019
- 'Catalytic Cooperation,' Blavatnik School of Government Working Paper BSG-WP-2018/026
- “The Role of Sub-state and Nonstate Actors in International Climate Processes,” Chatham House Research Paper, November 2018
- with David Held, "Why is the anti-global backlash happening now?" Global Agenda, World Economic Forum, 29 November 2017
- with David Held, "The world is in economic, political and environmental gridlock – here’s why," The Conversation, 8 November 2017
- with David Held, "Beyond gridlock in world politics," Open Democracy, 13 October 2017
- “After Trump, the Groundswell of Global Climate Action is ever more Central to the Climate Regime.” Global Policy. November 22, 2016.
- with Harro van Asselt. “How non-state actors can contribute to more effective review processes under the Paris Agreement.” Stockholm Environment Institute Policy Brief. May 2016.
- "Trade and investment finance after Paris: Navigating the transition to universal low carbon energy." Blavatnik School Policy Memo. March 2016.
- "Ratchet Up: Five tools to lift climate action after Paris," Blavatnik School policy memo, November 2015
- with Sangjung Ha and Peter Ogden. “Climate Finance in and between Developing Countries: An Opportunity to Build on,” Global Policy, forthcoming
- with Sander Chan et al., “Reinvigorating International Climate Policy: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Nonstate Action,” Global Policy, Vol 6., Issue 4, pp. 466-473.
- "Subsidy Phase-Out and Reform Catalyst Bonds: A New Tool to Tackle Fossil-Fuel Subsidies." With Pete Ogden. Center for American Progress report. June 2014.
- "Orchestrating global solution networks: A guide for organizational entrepreneurs." With Kenneth W. Abbott. Global Solutions Network publication. May 2014.
- "Design considerations for a registry of sub- and non-state actions in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change." With Louis Chambers. BSG Policy Memo, February 2014.
- with Kartikeya Singh, "India's Unseen Climate Leadership," India Climate Dialogue, 3 June 2014.
- "Country-to-Country Review under the Next Climate Treaty: Lessons from Other Intergovernmental Review Processes." With Max Harris. BSG Policy Memo, February 2014.
- How the UNFCCC Can Drive Climate Ambition in Advance of a Treaty: Record, Review, Reinforce, Recruit. BSG Policy Memo. October 2013.
- with David Held, "City Limits," RSA Journal, Autumn 2013, p. 20.
- with David Held and Kevin Young, “European and Global Gridlock,” E!Sharp, July, 2013.
- “A Climate Coalition of the Willing,” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2010
- secondary author for Anne-Marie Slaughter’s The Idea that Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World, (New York: Basic Books, 2007).
- with Georg Kell and Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Silent Reform through the Global Compact,” U.N. Chronicle, Volume 44, No. 1, 2007.
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Transparency: Possibilities and Limitations,” Fletcher Forum on International Affairs (Winter 2006).
Book reviews
- The Ebb and Flow of Global Governance: Intergovernmentalism versus Nongovernmentalism in World Politics. By Alexandru Grigorescu, and The Origins of Informality: Why the Legal Foundations of Global Governance Are Shifting, and Why It Matters. By Charles B. Roger. Perspectives on Politics, Vol 8 No 4, December 2020. The Continent of International Law: Explaining Agreement Design. Barbara Koremenos. Perspectives on Politics, Vol 15, No. 1, March 2017, pp. 295-6.
- Book Review: Networks in Contention: The Divisive Politics of Climate Change, Jennifer Hadden. International Political Reviews, 3, pp. 84-93, 2015.
- First of the Year 2009, edited by Benj DeMott, Democratiya, Spring, 2009
- The Cultural Contradictions of Democracy: Political Thought since 9/11, by John Brenkman. Democratiya, Spring 2008.
- with Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Hardt and Negri’s Multitude: the Worst of Both Worlds”, openDemocracy, May 26, 2005
Commentary
- “Can a new taskforce bring more rigor and cohesion to regulating net zero?” Financial Times. March 2023.
- “Corporate pushback against climate action is getting desperate.” ClimateHome. 28 September 2022.
- “The carbon offset market is falling short. Here’s how to fix it.” Financial Times. May 5, 2022.
- “We’ve found one factor that predicts which countries best survive Covid.” The Guardian. 24 March 2022.
- with Richard Black, “The end of the beginning of net zero,” BusinessGreen, November 4, 2021.
- with Jessica Green, “New ‘net zero’ standards could transform the climate — unless they’re derailed,” Monkey Cage / Washington Post. October 4, 2021.
- with Richard Black and Steve Smith. Net zero: despite the greenwash, it’s vital for tackling climate change. The Conversation. May 10, 2021.
- with Harro van Asselt et all, “Realizing the Promise of Paris: Three Ways of Strengthening Non-State and Subnational Climate Action,” Global Policy, December 11, 2020.
- “The Paris agreement survived the Trump administration. What happens now?” The Monkey Cage – Washington Post. December 11, 2020.
- 'The “contact budget”: a climate metaphor to make sense of COVID-19 restrictions', Blavatnik School Blog, 29 October, 2020.
- with Green et al., 'Oil companies aren’t actually going green – but some are heading there faster than others', Monkey Cage (The Washington Post), 18 September 2020.
- with Chuyu Liu and Johannes Urpelainen, 'Building back better requires a new approach to China’s Belt and Road Initiative', ISEP Blog, 25 May 2020
- 'Cooperation is key to fighting a pandemic – that's why I helped create a global coronavirus tracker', The Independent, 13 March 2020
- with Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Emily Jones, 'To Advance Trade and Climate Goals, "Global Britain" Must Link Them', Chatham House Expert Commentary, 19 March 2020
- 'Five tough questions to ask about reaching net zero climate targets', The Independent, 13 March 2020
- 'UK and Holyrood must unite to lead the way on climate', The Times (Scotland), 10 February 2020
- 'UN climate talks must include cities, businesses or risk irrelevance', Climate Home, 10 October 2019
- with Chan, S., Deneault, A. et al. Assessing the effectiveness of orchestrated climate action from five years of summits. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 628–633 (2022).
- with Chuyu Liu and Johannes Urpelainen (2022). “Explaining the energy mix in China’s electricity projects under the belt and road initiative.” Environmental Politics.
- with Isaac Weldon, et al. “Governing Global Antimicrobial Resistance: 6 Key Lessons from the Paris Climate Agreement.” American Journal of Public Health. April 2022, Vol 112, No. 4
- with Jessica Green, Jennifer Hadden & Paasha Mahdavi (2022) “Transition, hedge, or resist? Understanding political and economic behavior toward decarbonization in the oil and gas industry.” Review of International Political Economy, 29:6, 2036.
- Who should be 2019’s Climate Champion?' Climate Home, 11 January 2019.
- 'Donald Trump is sacrificing the future of the planet on the altar of his own ego - but it could backfire', New Statesman, June 2, 2017.
- 'Understanding China’s Domestic Agenda Can End UN Gridlock' ('读懂中国才能打破气候谈判僵局') China Dialogue, July 7, 2013.
- 'Investing in reform: A new bond could beat our addiction to fossil fuel subsidies.' With Pete Ogden. Juncture. Volume 21, Issue 2, pages 169–171, Autumn 2014.
- 区天伦与 托马斯·霍尔, '中国可支持地方政府的气候变化举措,'东方早抱 (上海), 2010.11.26 [with Bruce Au, 'China Can Support Local Government Action on Climate Change', Oriental Morning Post (Shanghai), November 26, 2010]. Reprinted in English as 'How to Break the Climate Change Stalemate,' China Daily, November 30, 2010.
- with Tobias Leipprand, 'Climate Diplomacy Needs a Revolution', European Voice, September 30, 2010.
- with Scott Moore, 'A Coalition of the Willing for the Climate', China Dialogue, June 1, 2010.
- 'Globalising Freedom,' openDemocracy, March 15, 2005.