Mark Purdon

Researcher
Nov 24

Mark Purdon is an expert in the emerging field of comparative climate change politics, which combines elements of comparative politics, comparative public policy and international relations. He is particularly interested in the relationship between decarbonization and political economy, and has extensive research experience in both developing and developed countries in areas of climate finance, renewable energy, transportation, forestry and land-use. His goal is to develop a bottom-up understanding of global climate change politics through rich and contextualized comparative research, as well as to rethink international relations theory in order to better inform domestic politics and public policy. Mark earned a PhD in political science at the University of Toronto in 2013 and completed a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the London School of Economics in 2014. He joined the Department of Strategy, Social and Environmental Responsibility at ESG UQÀM as a professor in 2018 where he has held the Chair in Decarbonization since 2021 and also leads UQAM’s delegation to the annual UN climate change conference (the “COPs”).

Expertise

  • Decarbonization and Climate Policy
  • International Cooperation
  • Comparative Political Economy

Selected Publications

    1. Purdon, M. (Forthcoming) The Political Economy of Climate Finance Effectiveness in Developing Countries : Carbon Markets, Climate Funds, and the State. Oxford University Press.
    2. Purdon M, Giuliano G, Witcover J, Murphy C, Ziaja S, Kaiser C, Winfield M, Séguin C, Papy J, et Fulton L (2021) Climate and Transportation Policy Sequencing in California and Quebec. Review of Policy Research, 38: 596-630.
    3. Purdon, M. (2015) Advancing Comparative Climate Change Politics – Theory and Method. Global Environmental Politics, 15(3): 1-26.
    4. Purdon, M., R. Lokina, et M. Bukenya. (2014) Forest Sector Reforms in Tanzania and Uganda. Pages 83-106 in Robinson, E. and R. Bluffstone (Eds.) Forest Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa: Local Control for Improved Livelihoods, Forest Management, and Carbon Sequestration. Resources for the Future Press: Washington, DC.
    5. Purdon, M. (2014). Neoclassical Realism and Climate Change Politics: Moral Imperative and Political Constraint in Climate Finance. Journal of International Relations and Development, 17: 301-338.

Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces / Le Ministère de la Défense nationale et les Forces armées canadiennes