Prof Mikael Skou Andersen

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Mikael Skou Andersen is currently employed as an environmental economist at the European Environment Agency, an EU institution located in Copenhagen. Since Jan 2001, he is also a  Professor in Policy Analysis at Denmarks National Environmental Research Institute, now part of Aarhus University.

Mikael Skou Andersen’s hometown, Aarhus, is the hub of Denmark’s windpower industry, which has experienced how conversion to renewable energy means real momentum for green growth.

In Denmark, Mikael Skou Andersen is known for his research dedicated to figuring out the health costs of air pollution from fossil fuels. In 2005 he was part of the team of atmospheric scientists that prepared the cost-benefit assessment which paved the way for Copenhagen’s environmental zone with restrictions for heavy traffic.

In 1989 he pioneered the idea of environmental tax reform, that involves the shifting of tax burdens away from labour and on to pollution and resource use – a method that has risen to prominence in the Nordic countries. He has been a member of an international task force advising Premier Wen Jiabao on how to introduce carbon-energy taxation as part of China’s next 5 year plan – which may obtain final approval at the People’s Congress this spring.

His most recent book is “Carbon-energy taxation: Lessons from Europe” (Oxford University Press, 2009) co-edited with Prof. Paul Ekins, University College London. Other publications include “The innovation of EU environmental policy” (Scandinavian University Press, 1997) and “Governance by green taxes” (Manchester University Press, 1994).