Mikael’s research addresses the greening of the economy, with a focus on policy instruments, regulations and external costs related to environment and energy, especially the relationship between market-based instruments, governance institutions and technological innovations as a remedy for preventive and foresighted policies. This research has frequently been interdisciplinary, connecting with insights and models from the natural sciences.

Mikael has been offering courses at Aarhus University in ‘Comparative climate policy’, ‘EU environmental policy’ and ‘Environmental and ecological economics’, and has contributed to the Climate Change Summer University in Aarhus. Mikael has been supervising master thesis and Ph.D. students. Three of Mikael’s former students now hold positions as professors. 

Mikael is coordinator of the Horizon Europe funded project MARCHES, that involves a large interdisciplinary team of environmental economists, health specialists, modelers and social scientists from seven European countries. For a number of years, Mikael has been convenor of the Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation (GCET) as member of the international steering trio. Mikael is co-editor of the international scientific journal Ecological Economics. 

Mikael has carried out advisory work for OECD, Nordic Council of Ministers, the European Environment Agency, the European Commission, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank among others. He has also supported national agencies and ministries in several countries, from Mexico to China and including Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency. Most of this advisory has focused on environmentally-related taxation, notably on carbon pricing, though also assessing environmental financial assistance programs at home and abroad. 

Policy analysis
Environmentally-related taxation
Environmental and ecological economics
Integrated assessment modelling
Institutional and comparative analysis
EU environment, climate and energy politics