Human-induced environmental change and scarcity is presenting decision-makers with a growing number of critical policy choices. An indispensable element in making these choices is evolving research from a range of social science disciplines. The central aim of the Environmental Economics & Policy Cluster is to contribute to this process by advancing empirical understanding, that is in its turn informed by theory, of environmental performance, behaviour and governance.
Our research agenda covers state, market, and civil society actors and explores the interrelationships with other policy spheres and regulation (social, economic, and political) across a range of geographic scales, from the local to the global, both in the developed and developing worlds. This includes diverse studies of the social costs of climate change, renewable energy in the Middle East, water resource management in Spain and the impacts of major events such as the Olympic Games.
Recent appointments in the cluster have strengthened our research expertise on environment and development and includes research on farming and biodiversity in Ethiopia as well as community forest management in Namibia and Malaysia.
The cluster's research draws on a focused array of expertise in geography, political science and economics. The cluster has what is the largest group of full-time academic environmental economists in UK universities (and probably one of the largest elsewhere). All members have strong expertise in environmental economics and policy and are regularly involved in high profile policy work. Staff have acted as advisors and consultants for the United Nations, the World Bank, the OECD and other international organisations, as well as UK government departments (such as Defra) and the private sector.
The cluster has attracted substantial grants from the European Commission, British Government and the Alcoa Foundation. The biggest achievement in terms of grant application has been the successful bids for an ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. As a result, the cluster enjoys close links with the Grantham Research Institute, chaired by Lord Stern of Brentford, as well as the research programmes of CCCEP. With these awards, the LSE has emerged as one of the leading places in the world to research and study the environment and climate change.
The Environmental Economics & Policy group and Grantham Research Institute run the MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change.
The Environmental Economics & Policy cluster brings together experts in environmental change, political science and economics with an interest in advancing empirical understanding and theory of environmental performance, behaviour and governance.
Dr Ben Groom
b.groom@lse.ac.uk
Associate Professor of Environment & Development Economics
Doctoral students in the Environmental Economics & Policy Cluster regularly go on to work in leading academic and public research institutions, as well as international organisations, the private/consultancy sector, and governmental institutions.
Current PhD students in the Environmental Economics & Policy Cluster are shown on our Research Students Who's Who page. Specific research interests can be found on each student's profile.