Nathan Hultman

Nathan Hultman is a Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Global Sustainability (CGS). He specializes in national climate strategies, Paris Agreement NDCs, energy policy, and international climate diplomacy. His work bridges academia, policy, and practice, with focus on ambitious climate targets, subnational engagement, and U.S.-China collaboration. Hultman has held senior roles in U.S. climate diplomacy, including advising the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (2021-2025), and contributed to the 2021 U.S. Long-Term Strategy and the U.S.-China Glasgow Declaration. He founded CGS in 2016 to advance global climate ambition, now leading a team of over 60 researchers.

Education: B.A. in Physics from Carleton College; Ph.D. in Energy & Resources from UC Berkeley. Affiliations include Brookings Institution (nonresident fellow) and University of Oxford (visiting fellow). His research emphasizes actionable pathways for decarbonization, including coal phaseout strategies, methane mitigation, and renewable energy transitions. CGS leads initiatives like America Is All In, mobilizing subnational actors to support climate goals, and the Program to Accelerate the Global Coal Transition.

Key publications analyze U.S. clean energy policy rollbacks, China's provincial wind/solar investment needs, and high-ambition decarbonization pathways for South Korea. His work highlights co-benefits of climate action (e.g., health improvements), economic implications of policy choices, and the role of non-state actors in global climate governance.