Björn Nykvist

Dr. Björn Nykvist is Head of Division – Global Agendas, Climate, and Systems at Stockholm Environment Institute, and an affiliated researcher at the Department of Technology and Society, Lund University, Sweden. He has worked interdisciplinarily, leading and conducting research on sustainability, climate change, and governance of energy, transport, and natural resources since 2005.

Nykvist’s main research interest is in sustainability transitions, with a focus on understanding technological developments, innovations, policy analysis, and the governance of such socio-technical systems. His recent and ongoing research projects focus on decarbonization of transport and industrial systems, and how these transitions intersect with justice concerns, critical materials, and resilience. His past research has covered social learning, ecosystem services, planetary boundaries and energy systems broadly. Nykvist is best known for his work on the rapid electrification of the transport sector, where his research on the rapid development and potential of battery electric vehicles has contributed to shaping research agendas. He has authored and contributed to around 45 peer-reviewed papers in a diverse range of international publications spanning both the natural and social sciences, including top-ranked journals such as Nature, Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, Joule, One Earth, and TREE, and leading journals in the fields of sustainability and energy, such as Research Policy, Global Environmental Change, Energy Policy, Applied Energy, and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions.