Thomas Hahn leads a large collaborative research program for climate action and transformation with civil society organisations (FAIRTRANS)

Hahn is Associate Professor in environmental social science, specialised in ecological economics. His research focuses on ecological and institutional economics in relation to ecosystem services, climate action, sustainability transformation, post-growth economy, and adaptive governance of social-ecological systems.

Hahn recently won a large Mistra research grant of 40 MSEK together with Stephan Barthel and 20 other researchers for the project Fair Transformation to a Fossil Free Future (FAIRTRANS).

He also leads a Formas project - Increasing legitimacy and stakeholder involvement in ecological compensation/biodiversity offsets. He is presently a lead author of the Values Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and was CLA for the recent IPBES European and Central Asian Regional Assessment.

Hahn regularly gives presentations about his research to Swedish Parliamentary Committees, the Swedish Environmental Protection Board, business leaders, as well as environmental NGOs and other parts of civil society. He also contributes to teaching at all levels.

He holds a PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU, 2001), where he studied property rights of the indigenous Sami people, ethics, and conflict resolution.

With a background in agricultural and institutional economics, his research is inter- and transdisciplinary, collaborating with stakeholders engaged in issues from biosphere reserves to climate action. One term of his PhD studies was spent at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (supervisor Prof. Daniel Bromley).

Hahn collaborates regularly with other departments at Stockholm University for teaching and research. He has led courses in ecological economics at five universities for 30 years (SLU, UU, SU, Gävle, and KTH), inspiring thousands of students, and served as Director of studies for seven years. In 2015 Hahn’s teaching was featured by Stockholm University.

Hahn has served 12 years as a board member of Sveaskog AB, the largest forest owner in Europe, and for two years as a board member of the Swedish Nuclear Waste Fund. He is a fellow of KSLA (The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry) and senior advisor to the think tank Global Utmaning. The latter collaboration contributed to the new Mistra/Formas research grant (40 MSEK).

In 2013, Hahn worked half-time co-authoring an official report, commissioned by the Swedish government, on the value of ecosystem services (SOU 2013:68). English summary http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/16982/a/226192

Awards and achievements

• In 2021, Hahn became Program Director of a large research programme financed jointly by Mistra and Formas: Fair Transformation to a Fossil Free Future (FAIRTRANS)
• In 2021, Hahn's work experiences from the forest sector and research on how to enhance climate benefits and resilience in forests and forestry were disseminated in public seminars, national newspapers and national TV (Vetenskapens Värld).

Current funding

• Joint grant from Mistra (DIA 2019/28) and Formas via the national research programme on climate (2021-00416): Fair Transformation to a Fossil Free Future (FAIRTRANS), 40 MSEK 2021-2025. Programme co-director.
• Formas: Increasing legitimacy and stakeholder involvement in ecological compensation/biodiversity offsets. 2,997,192 SEK for 2020-2023 (No. 2019-01078).