Rakhyun E. Kim is Associate Professor of Earth System Governance at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University.

Trained as an interdisciplinary scholar (PhD, ANU Fenner School), Kim works at the intersection of global environmental governance and international environmental law. A central theme of his work is the mismatch between existing institutional arrangements and Earth system dynamics. By examining how international regimes, agreements, and organisations interact within complex institutional architectures, his research develops and refines theories of Earth system law and governance designed to respond to planetary-scale risks and complexities.

Kim holds several leadership roles in the field. He is the Principal Investigator of a five-year European Research Council Starting Grant project on 'problem shifting' between international environmental treaty regimes. Within the Earth System Governance Project, he co-leads the Task Force on Earth System Law, and at the Copernicus Institute, he co-leads the Special Interest Group on Network Analysis for Sustainability. He also serves on the editorial boards of leading journals, including Global Environmental Politics, Earth System Governance, and Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law. He has contributed to major international science–policy processes, including the United Nations Environment Programme's Global Environment Outlook (2019) and the United Nations World Ocean Assessment (2026).

At Utrecht University, Kim teaches across BSc and MSc programmes and supervises research students. He has supervised five PhD projects to completion, with six more in progress. He was nominated twice by a student association for the Outstanding Teacher Award (2019, 2022).