
Dr. Diarmuid Torney
I am an associate professor in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University and Director of the DCU Institute for Climate and Society. I hold an MPhil and DPhil (PhD) in International Relations from the University of Oxford. My research focuses on climate change politics, policy, and governance.
I am coordinator of the Horizon Europe project RETOOL: Strengthening democratic governance for climate transitions, and I lead DCU's participation in the Research Ireland funded Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water. I was a coordinator author of Ireland's first Climate Change Assessment Report, commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency. I co-led the development of Volume 4, which focused on Realising the benefits of transition and transformation.
My research has been published in leading international peer reviewed academic journals, including Energy Policy, Global Environmental Politics, Climate Policy, Environmental Politics, Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, Journal of Common Market Studies, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, and Politics and Governance, among others.
I welcome applications from prospective research students interested in climate change politics and governance at national, European, and global levels.
I am an independent expert member of Ireland's Just Transition Commission, and also an independent expert member of the National Economic and Social Council. I am also a member of the Executive Group of the All Island Climate and Biodiversity Research Network,the Expert Working Group on Sustainability of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the Net Zero Working Group of the Royal Irish Academy, and the Climate Change and Biodiversity Advisory Group of Community Foundation Ireland. I am also a Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance Project.
Research Interests
Climate change politics, policy, and governance at national, European, and global levels. I have particular interests in governance frameworks to enable transformative climate action, including deliberative democracy and framework climate legislation.
Teaching Interests
I am programme chair of DCU’s MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society. Established in 2018, this programme focuses on the policy, governance, and societal aspects of climate change.
In 2021, I was awarded a DCU President’s Award for Teaching and Learning. This award was in recognition of my use of practice-based, active learning. I use simulations of UN climate change negotiations in my teaching of climate change politics, and I have facilitated my students to make submissions to climate policy public consultations, including on: Ireland’s National Energy and Climate Plan 2019; Long-Term Climate Strategy 2019; Dublin City Council Climate Action Plan 2019; Climate Action Plan 2021; and NESC’s Shared Island consultation.
I welcome applications from prospective research students interested in climate change politics and governance at national, European, and global levels.
