Taufiq Firdaus Al Muzaky

Taufiq Firdaus Al Muzaky (Zaky) is a PhD researcher at the Global Development Institute (GDI), School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED), at the University of Manchester. His research examines the intersection of paradiplomacy and climate finance, with a particular focus on how subnational governments mobilise transnational resources to finance green infrastructure and accelerate low-carbon transitions.

His doctoral project develops an Institutional Pathways Framework to analyse how subnational actors leverage international networks, policy coalitions, and cross-border partnerships to access and structure climate financing flows. The research investigates how coordination mechanisms, legal authority, administrative capacity, and planning–budget integration interact with paradiplomatic strategies to influence the mobilisation and utilisation of climate and green finance.

Empirically, his work employs comparative case studies of West Java (Indonesia) and Victoria (Australia), examining how differing governance systems and international engagement strategies shape the capacity of subnational governments to attract and deploy climate finance in sectors such as green mobility and environmental infrastructure. Particular attention is given to the political economy of financing instruments, institutional constraints, and the role of transnational policy networks.

Methodologically, his research integrates structured integrative review, qualitative institutional analysis, and policy and elite interviews within a multi-level governance framework. His work contributes to theoretical debates on subnational climate governance, fiscal decentralisation, and the evolving role of paradiplomacy in global climate finance architecture.

Prior to his doctoral studies, he accumulated extensive experience in international cooperation and legal-institutional facilitation within the West Java Provincial Government. This practitioner background informs the policy relevance and applied dimension of his research.

His broader scholarly objective is to advance understanding of how subnational governments in emerging and advanced economies can strategically deploy paradiplomacy to unlock sustainable climate financing and scale green infrastructure investment.