Timothy Swanson holds the André Hoffmann Chair of Environmental Economics. He has graduate degrees in law and economics, completing his PhD at the London School of Economics under the supervision of Nick Stern. Previously, he was the holder of the Chair of Law and Economics at University College London, a lecturer at Cambridge University and the Research Director for the UK’s National Centre on Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE). Recently, he has led research teams on issues dealing with: environmental governance in China (for the China Council and the ADB), biodiversity management domestically and globally (for various developing countries as well as the European Union’s BioEcon programme), EU water management, as well as intellectual property rights and biotechnology regulation (EU and European Science Foundation).

He has advised many international agencies (OECD, UNEP, World Bank) on issues dealing with burden sharing and institution-building under international environmental agreements such as the Montreal Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity. His publications appear in journals which focus on economics, international affairs and development, environmental studies, as well as law and economics.