Agatha Majcher

Activities

• Analysis of distributional impacts of climate policy instruments (carbon pricing, phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies) in the context of the EnergieSystemWende
• Microsimulations to assess burden and relief effects (Germany/South Africa)
• Linking distributional analysis with energy system modelling (PyPSA) and transformation pathways
• Modelling and evaluation of transformation scenarios (scenario comparison, sensitivity analyses, indicators)
• Deriving design options and policy recommendations for socially just and politically feasible instruments

Personal Information

Agatha Majcher has been a PhD candidate in the RLS Graduate School EnergieSystemWende since January 2026. In her dissertation, she investigates the distributional impacts and acceptance conditions of carbon pricing as well as the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies. Her work focuses on a systematic comparison between Germany and South Africa, based on microsimulations and energy system modelling. The aim is to identify design options to shape these instruments in a socially just and politically feasible way.

Most recently, Agatha worked at the German Energy Agency (dena), where she developed strategies to increase energy efficiency in the buildings sector, prepared studies and financing models, and facilitated cross-sector dialogue processes. As a senior expert, she was also responsible for the organisational and technical implementation of a nationwide, database-based infrastructure project. Prior to that, she worked as a research associate at Technische Universität Berlin in the Cooperation and Advisory Unit for Environmental Issues, where she supported civil society projects on socio-ecological sustainability and contributed to transdisciplinary learning formats.

Agatha completed the Master’s programme in Renewable Energy Systems (M.Sc.) at Technische Universität Berlin and worked as a tutor at the Institute of Energy Engineering for the Energieseminar, an interdisciplinary project seminar on energy, environmental and societal issues. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Process, Energy and Environmental Engineering (B.Eng.) from Hochschule Düsseldorf; she wrote her bachelor’s thesis at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town.

In addition to her work at RLI, Agatha is part of the Fossil Exit team. Her PhD is supervised by Prof. Dr. Pao-Yu Oei.