Mark Roelfsema

Mark Roelfsema is a Researcher at Utrecht University's Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, specializing in the Environmental Sciences department within the School of Geosciences. His work focuses on international climate change policy analysis, particularly examining the progress and ambition of non-state actors (cities, regions, businesses) toward climate commitments.

Roelfsema's research expertise spans climate policy, environmental economics, climate change mitigation, sustainability, energy policy, and non-state climate action. His work emphasizes quantitative analysis to inform policymakers about climate governance mechanisms and implementation pathways. His doctoral thesis (2022) focused on integrated assessment modeling of state policies and non-state actions to limit global temperature increase to 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on climate policy implementation, emissions scenarios, Paris Agreement mechanisms, and the role of non-state actors in climate governance. Roelfsema frequently collaborates with international researchers on projects analyzing nationally determined contributions, climate target assessments, and cooperative climate initiatives.

He is an active member of the Science Based Targets Initiative and has presented on energy modeling methodologies. His research has been published in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, Climate Policy, and Environmental Science and Policy.

Roelfsema's professional activities include significant contributions to understanding how cities, regions, and businesses contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions reductions and how their actions complement national climate policies under the Paris Agreement framework.