Publications
Novel and improved insurance instruments for risk reduction
In the context of natural disaster insurance and risk reduction this paper looks at how to assess existing insurance offerings and how to design new schemes. read more »
Understanding climate adaptation and transformation challenges in African cities
This critical assessment of climate adaptation and transformation challenges, agendas and actions across Africa draws on the principal findings and analyses of the papers in this special issue of COSUST. read more »
Beyond carbon pricing: The role of banking and monetary policy in financing the transition to a low-carbon economy
It is widely acknowledged that introducing a price on carbon represents a crucial precondition for filling the current gap in low-carbon investment. However, as this paper argues, carbon pricing in … read more »
Book review |Climate Shock: The economic consequences of a hotter planet, by Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman
Swenja Surminski on how the wait and see policy of businesses is not enough when it comes to global warming read more »
International and sectoral variation in energy prices 1995-2011: how does it relate to emissions policy stringency?
New research analsying major trends in global energy prices and the extent to which energy prices are a good proxy for emissions policy stringency. New dataset available. read more »
Endogenous growth, convexity of damages and climate risk: how Nordhaus’ framework supports deep cuts in carbon emissions
‘To slow or not to slow’ (Nordhaus, 1991) was the first economic appraisal of greenhouse gas emissions abatement and founded a large literature on a topic of worldwide importance. We offer our assessment of the original article and trace its legacy, in particular Nordhaus’s later series of ‘DICE’ models. From this work, many have drawn the conclusion that an efficient global emissions abatement policy comprises modest and modestly increasing controls. We use DICE itself to provide an initial illustration that, if the analysis is extended to take more strongly into account three essential elements of the climate problem – the endogeneity of growth, the convexity of damage and climate risk – optimal policy comprises strong controls. read more »
Editorial overview: Sustainability challenges: assessing climate change adaptation in Africa
Simon, D. and Leck, H (2015). In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
Delegation and public pressure in a threshold public goods game: theory and experimental evidence
The provision of global public goods, such as climate change mitigation and managing fisheries to avoid overharvesting, requires the coordination of national contributions. read more »
The human capital transition and the role of policy
Paper seeks to investigate how industrialised economies managed to achieve the transition from low to high levels of human capital, and goes on to identify lessons for green growth. read more »
The ‘optimal and equitable’ climate finance gap
This study uses a number of Integrated Assessment Models to determine what the optimal financial transfers between high-income and developing economies would be if climate mitigation costs were to be divided equally across regions. read more »
