| Title | Climate and environment: what we know and what we need to know |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Robin Burgess (author) |
| Tim Dobermann (author) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.31389/lsepress.tlc.n |
| Landing page | https://doi.org/10.31389/lsepress.tlc.n |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Publisher | LSE Press |
| Published on | 2025-10-16 |
| Short abstract | Expanding welfare in a world with climate change requires meeting two fundamental challenges. First, economic growth must properly account for the damaging effects of environmental externalities. Secondly, societies need to build resilience and adapt to the changes in climate that are already upon us. In this chapter, we summarise the existing evidence on how countries can undertake these two necessary transitions. Rich or poor, big or small, these transitions apply to all countries across the world. At the same time, climate justice is pertinent, as countries or individuals most vulnerable to climate change and environmental decline are likely to have contributed least to the problem. We argue that innovation is the path through these challenges. Technological and institutional innovations can help overcome the trade-offs that make political action on the environment so difficult. While much is known, a great deal remains unclear. We lay out where researchers can support policymakers by addressing knowledge gaps that can form a new research agenda for sustainable growth. |
| Long abstract | Expanding welfare in a world with climate change requires meeting two fundamental challenges. First, economic growth must properly account for the damaging effects of environmental externalities. Secondly, societies need to build resilience and adapt to the changes in climate that are already upon us. In this chapter, we summarise the existing evidence on how countries can undertake these two necessary transitions. Rich or poor, big or small, these transitions apply to all countries across the world. At the same time, climate justice is pertinent, as countries or individuals most vulnerable to climate change and environmental decline are likely to have contributed least to the problem. We argue that innovation is the path through these challenges. Technological and institutional innovations can help overcome the trade-offs that make political action on the environment so difficult. While much is known, a great deal remains unclear. We lay out where researchers can support policymakers by addressing knowledge gaps that can form a new research agenda for sustainable growth. |
| Language | English (Original) |
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Robin Burgess is a Professor of Economics, Co-Founder and Director of the IGC and Director of the Economics of Environment and Energy Research Programme, all at LSE. He is Co-Director (with Michael Greenstone) of the Coase Project on the Economics of Climate, Energy and Environment, was the past President of BREAD, serves on the board of VoxDev and Center for Effective Global Action and is an Affiliate of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale, a Research Fellow in CEPR and Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo) and a Fellow of the British Academy and the Econometric Society. His main interests are in the areas of environmental economics, development economics and political economy. He has published on a variety of topics – natural disasters, political accountability, mass media, deforestation and forest fires, access to electricity, renewable energy, marine protection zones, poverty traps, bureaucracy, youth unemployment, rural banks, land reform, labour regulation, industrial policy, taxation, poverty, and growth.
Tim Dobermann is the Director of Research for the IGC and a Research Fellow in Environmental Economics at LSE. His research focuses on how climate change impacts those in poverty and how energy sectors in developing countries can be made more effective. He has advised several governments in Asia and Africa on energy, public finance, and sustainable growth issues. He holds a PhD in Economics from LSE.