Hector J. Gonzalez
Climate and development professional connecting research, finance, and implementation.
I bring experience in policy research, program development, financial operations, and US–Mexico partnership-building to climate and development challenges.
Selected work
Efficiency Standards, Air Quality & HealthResearch · LBNL
Modeling how U.S. appliance standards change regional air quality and community health — at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Mexico Development LabPrograms · UC Berkeley GSPP
Co-founding a binational program connecting policy students with the institutions shaping Mexico’s energy transition.
Parametric Insurance for Climate ResilienceClimate Finance · Big Ideas 2023
An award-recognized proposal for automatic, remote-sensing-triggered crop insurance for smallholder farmers — with Alejandro Carrillo.
Featured Research & Writing
Assessing the Health Impacts of Efficiency StandardsResearch · March 2025
How appliance rules ripple through the grid into air quality and mortality — a regional modeling approach.
Improving Accountability in Mexico's Green TransitionPolicy & Programs · Dec 2023
Policy memo with Francisco Aguilar, Avalon Bauman, Hector Gonzalez, Anne Green, Piyush Narang & Sumate Pruekruedee — strengthening stakeholder responsibilities to local communities.
The City Design and ExternalitiesEssays & Commentary
What growing up in Guadalajara taught me about governance vacuums — and who pays for the city.
From balance sheets to energy systems
I spent a decade managing finance and operations for a multi-entity investment office — work that taught me how organizations, capital, and compliance actually function. Graduate training in development practice at UC Berkeley turned that foundation toward a different question: how the costs and benefits of energy and development are distributed, and who bears them. Since then I’ve researched the health effects of energy policy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, co-founded a binational policy program, and helped organizations measure and report their climate impact. My work spans climate and development programs, research and analysis, climate finance, and policy partnerships.
More about me →
Working on climate, energy, or development challenges?
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