The Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, was founded in 2012 by Stiftung Mercator and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). At the end of its inception phase, which ran from 2012 to 2015, MCC supported 28 full-time-equivalent positions, distributed across 47 total staff members. MCC’s mission is to provide solution-oriented policy pathways for governing the global commons to enhance sustainable development and human well-being. MCC’s approach is based on high-quality research to inform policy making in an iterative societal learning process.