Dr. rer. pol. Sonja Thielges
Global Issues Visiting Fellow
Research Cluster Climate Policy and Politics Visiting Fellow
Areas of Expertise
- United States
- Climate policy
- Energy policy
- Transatlantic relations
Climate foreign policy, German and international climate policy, bilateral climate relations, multi- and transnational climate and energy governance
Working GroupsShort Curriculum vitae
Since 2023 Global Issues Research Division and Research Cluster Climate Politics and Policy, SWP
2022 – 2024 Group Leader of the interdisciplinary research group “Industrial Decarbonization Strategies”, Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) (until 2023 Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, IASS)
Since 2020 Geoeconomics Non-Resident Fellow, American-German Institute (AGI)
2016 – 2021 Research Associate Global Energy Transition, IASS Potsdam
2019 PhD, John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
SWP Publications
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The Resilience of the Biden Administration’s Climate Policy
On the Danger of a Climate Policy U-turn under a Second Trump Presidency
SWP Comment 2024/C 41, 06.09.2024, 8 Pagesdoi:10.18449/2024C41
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Foresight: Multilevel Climate Policy in 2030
Research Division EU/Europe, Working Paper Nr. 02/2024, August 2024, 35 Pages -
Third Generation of Nationally Determined Contributions
The Heart of the Paris Agreement Is at Stake
SWP Comment 2024/C 33, 07.08.2024, 7 Pagesdoi:10.18449/2024C33
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The Global Shift Away from Fossil Energy
A blind spot in climate foreign policy
SWP Comment 2023/C 38, 13.07.2023, 8 Pagesdoi:10.18449/2023C38
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New Climate Leadership
“Yes we can ... after all” – the United States is caught between international ambitions and domestic challenges
SWP Comment 2014/C 34, 18.07.2014, 4 Pages
External publications
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From Bush to Trump: 25 Years of U.S. Climate Policy Roller Coaster
in: Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, 05.11.2025doi:10.1007/s12399-025-01070-5
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Quo Vadis U.S. Climate and Energy Policy?
Developments under Trump 2.0.
in: RIFS Discussion Paper, July 2025 -
Turning Climate Protection into an Economic Success Story
Foreign policy challenges and opportunities for Germany and the EU
in: American-German Institute, 11.07.2025 -
Carbon Management. A New Pathway for Transatlantic Cooperation?
in: Johns Hopkins University, American-German Institute, 09.12.2024 -
Germany’s Industrial Climate Transformation Strategy and the Role of Carbon Capture and Utilization as a Building Block: Targets, Pathways, Policies, and Societal Acceptance
in: Tan, Eric C.D. (ed.): Sustainability Engineering Challenges, Technologies, and Applications, Boca Raton: CRC Press, August 2023, Chapter 15 -
La eliminación global de la energía fósil
in: Nueva Sociedad, No. 306, Julio – Agosto 2023 (online)