Rachel’s research explores the climate change adaptation governance at the national and international scales. She lectures in the Department of War Studies on the nexus of climate change and international relations and recently completed her PhD on climate change adaptation governance in the Department of Geography.

During her PhD, Rachel also worked as the Coordinator for the King’s Climate Hub, and as the Senior Climate Research Officer for King’s Climate and Sustainability, and has been a leader in developing a stronger interdisciplinarly climate research community across the university. Rachel led three King’s delegations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties, and has organised numerous trainings and workshops to share her knowledge and experiences of global climate negotiation processes.

Prior to joining King's, she earned her master's in Environmental Policy at Sciences Po Paris, where she studied challenges in environmental governance ranging from the politics of marine protection to decarbonisation pathways.

Rachel previously worked at The Climate Group in New York, supporting clean energy transitions within the private sector and sub-national governments. She has also conducted field research on community-led conservation and ecosystem-based management in Brazil.

PhD thesis title:
‘Constructing planned relocation under multilevel climate governance:
Lessons and implications for governing adaptation’

Research 

• Climate change adaptation governance
• Multilateral negotiations and climate finance
• Multiscalar governance
• Adaptation decision-making under constraints
• Adaptation and loss and damage governance in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
• Planned relocation and environment-related migration
• Constructivist IR theory for environmental governance

Teaching

• Module convener for Climate Change and International Relations
• MA dissertation supervisor

Publications

• Harrington-Abrams, R., & Bower, E. (2024) A missing link? The role of international organizations in climate-related planned relocation. Climate Policy, 1–14.
• Bower, E., Harrington-Abrams, R., & Priem, B. (2024) Complicating “community” engagement: Reckoning with an elusive concept in climate-related planned relocation, Global Environmental Change,
• Gini, G... Harrington-Abrams, R., et al. (2024) Navigating tensions in climate change-related planned relocation. Ambio 53, 1262 – 1266.
• Harrington-Abrams, R (2023) COP28: Outcomes and implications, Diplomat Magazine.
• Harrington-Abrams, R (2022) ‘Towards greater transparency and accountability in decision-making for planned relocation’, Forced Migration Review, 69, March 2022.
• Harrington-Abrams, R (2022) ‘Inside COP27: understanding hard-fought wins and difficult outcomes’, KCL Research Series, November 2022.
• Harrington-Abrams, R and Porter, J. (2021) ‘The challenges of adaptation, loss & damage that must be addressed at COP26 and beyond’, KCL Research Series, 08 November 2021

For a full list of research outputs and publications please see her Research Profile.