President Barack Obama's Climate Change Advisor to Become Stiftung Mercator Senior Fellow at HHL

[HHL gGmbH - 25.01.2017] Stiftung Mercator is proud to announce that the Obama administration's coordinator of energy and climate policy is to become one of its Senior Fellows. During the course of his Mercator Senior Fellowship at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Mr. Morton will explore innovative structures and partnerships geared to expedite the flow of private capital to support climate change activities.

If the international climate protection targets agreed in Paris are to be achieved, the global economy will need to be restructured and made far more climate-compatible. One central prerequisite is sufficient and rapid mobilization of investments in sustainable technologies and infrastructures worldwide. Public funding can only make up a fraction of the total, however, so private investment will be needed on a major scale.But how can enough capital from private investors, institutional investors and commercial banks be mobilized so as to establish sustainable energy systems globally?

"We are in the midst of the most predictable, fast moving, and consequential economic transformation in centuries,” said Morton. "The issue now is how to further expedite private capital flows to climate change projects around the world. This is the question that I look forward to working on at HHL with support from the Stiftung Mercator.”

With over 25 years of experience in the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, Mr. Morton brings a unique perspective to this undertaking. He will engage in an intensive study of the considerable international experience that has been gained in this field so far, and will identify promising strategies and measures. The German energy transition will also be studied as a good example of how state incentive schemes can be used to mobilize private capital for the sustainable transformation of the energy system.

Established in 2013, the objective of the Mercator FellowshipProgramme is to provide outstanding researchers and practitioners with the freedom they need to pursue exploratory research and work. By offering an extensive program, Stiftung Mercator is keen to help generate new impetus for resolving central challenges facing society.

About Stiftung Mercator

Stiftung Mercator is a private foundation which fosters science and the humanities, education and international understanding. It specifically initiates, develops and funds projects and partner organizatins in the thematic fields to which it is committed: it wants to strengthen Europe, improve integration through equal educational opportunities for everyone, drive forward the energy transition as a trigger for global climate change mitigation and firmly anchor cultural education in schools. Stiftung Mercator feels a strong sense of loyalty to the Ruhr region, the home of the founding family and the foundation's headquarters. http://www.stiftung-mercator.de

About HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management is a university-level institution and ranks amongst the leading international business schools. The goal of the oldest business school in German-speaking Europe is to educate effective, responsible and entrepreneurially-minded leaders. HHL stands out for its excellent teaching, its clear research focus, its effective knowledge transfer into practice as well as its outstanding student services. According to the Financial Times, HHL ranks first in Germany and fifth globally for its entrepreneurship focus within the M.Sc. and EMBA programs. HHL is accredited by AACSB International. http://www.hhl.de