Åsa Persson is a Senior Research Fellow at SEI. She is currently on a leave of absence. Previously, Åsa Persson was Research Director and Deputy Director at SEI (2018-2025).

Dr Persson is a social scientist and expert on climate and sustainable development policy and governance. She is Chair of the Swedish Climate Policy Council since 2023. As of September 2025, she is Strategic Advisor and Researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Climate Action Centre. In addition to these roles, she advises the UN on sustainable development, as member of the UN Committee for Development Policy and the High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs.

Her research focuses on the interplay between international and national policy for climate and sustainability. Previous research has focused on the choice of policy instruments, policy coherence, and international governance of climate change adaptation, planetary boundaries and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

As Research Director and Deputy Director of SEI, she was part of the global leadership team for seven years and chaired the Global Research Committee. She developed the global research strategy under two five-year organizational strategies, introduced new processes and policies for research innovation and research quality, was responsible for building partnerships and external engagement, and oversaw the Global Communication and Branding division.

Prior to this role, she was researcher, theme leader and head of unit at SEI. She was affiliated with the Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, where she was awarded Docent (Associate Professor) and appointed Adjunct Professor. She has been guest researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Australian National University and Macquarie University, Sydney. In 2007, she completed her PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She was member of the Independent Group of Scientists writing the 2023 UN Global Sustainable Development Report. Other academic roles she has include Lead Faculty of the Earth System Governance network, editorial board member for 10 New Climate Science Insights, and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.

She is a frequent public speaker and has provided advice to many policy organizations, like the UN, OECD, the European Commission and the Swedish government. Her research has been published in journals such as Nature, Nature Climate Change, One Earth, and Climate Policy. She has won several competitive research grants from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas), EU, Mistra and the Swedish Research Council.

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