Zac Taylor

Climate finance has emerged at the top of the international policy agenda in recent years, and it is now widely recognized that significant shifts in existing finance and investment paradigms will be needed to facilitate timely, effective, and equitable climate transitions. My research advances critical and practical knowledge which bridges climate finance with the place-specific challenges of urban climate action in two ways. First, I analyse climate finance from an urban geographical perspective. Second, and closely related, I champion practical strategies to embed climate finance within new urban governance strategies, and to leverage finance to address the place-specific dimensions of the climate crisis in a joined-up and equitable fashion.

Prior to joining the Department of Management in the Built Environment at TU Delft, I held a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at KU Leuven. I have a PhD in Geography from the University of Leeds, and obtained degrees in urban planning from the London School of Economics and UC Berkeley. My work has been published in academic journals including the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, and Environment and Planning A. I have authored professional reports on real estate management, finance, climate risk, and sustainability in collaboration with the Urban Land Institute and US Green Building Council, and my research has been featured in the New York Times and other media outlets. I currently co-convene the Urban Climate Finance Network. I am co-lead of RED&BLUE (Real Estate Development and Building in Low Urban Environments), a large research program focused on integrated real estate climate risk governance funded by the Dutch Research Council, and serve as a scientific coordinator the Resilient Delta initiative based in Greater Rotterdam.