Michael Dobson is a Climate Advisor at Independent Diplomat. Michael first joined ID as a Legal Officer in the Climate team in 2015-2016, advising the Republic of the Marshall Islands and H.E. Tony de Brum during the negotiation of the Paris Agreement and the creation of the High Ambition Coalition. He returned to the climate team as a senior consultant in 2020 and joined as a full-time member of staff in 2024. He has covered UNFCCC negotiations related to mitigation, transparency, Article 6, loss and damage, and finance. Since 2021, he has also supported RMI’s climate diplomacy at the International Maritime Organization. He holds a PhD in Global Politics from the New School for Social Research and undergraduate degrees in law and politics from the University of Otago. He is admitted to the bar in New Zealand and practiced at the law firm Chapman Tripp as a junior to Tim Smith, Daniel Kalderimis, Victoria Heine, and Jack Hodder K.C., before receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue graduate study in the United States.