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27Jan

Abundant clean energy for all: the technological opportunity

Hosted by the Global School of Sustainability
In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)
Tuesday 27 January 2026 6.30pm - 8pm

For the past two centuries, growth in energy supply has been fundamental to human progress and economic development. But fossil fuel dependence is driving climate change at an unprecedented scale. Can emerging technologies for producing and using electricity help deliver a sustainable future?

In this lecture, the first of three in a lecture series on climate change and economic growth, Adair Turner will describe the technologies that can deliver a low and eventually zero-emission global economy – distinguishing those which can deliver energy services at reduced costs and those where some green cost premium must be accepted.

He will argue that there is no technological barrier to limiting global warming to well below 2°C, and that our long-term future can be one of abundant green low-cost energy for all in a deeply electrified global economy.

The slides for this lecture can be found here.

The manuscript can be found here.

Meet our speaker and chair

Adair Turner (@AdairTurnerUK) has served in a number of prominent public roles in the UK, including as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the Committee on Climate Change, the Pensions Commission and the Low Pay Commission. He has also served as the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry.

Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Chair of Economics and Government and the inaugural Chair of the Global School of Sustainability at LSE. His latest book is The Growth Story of the 21st Century: The Economics and Opportunity of Climate Action.

More about this event

Launched in 2025, the Global School of Sustainability at LSE (GSoS) is the centre of social science expertise for sustainability impact at LSE. We work in partnerships across the LSE community and beyond to advance pioneering sustainability research and global policy engagement.

Join us on campus or register to watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

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About the series

The second and third lectures in the series, to be delivered on Tuesday 3 February and Monday 9 February, will address the barriers to action on climate change and propose a politically feasible programme of actions to still limit global warming to below 2°C.

This deep-dive lecture series will continue with:

While the series is designed to be attended in full, participants are welcome to join for individual lectures, noting that recordings of previous lectures will be available online subject to no technical issues.

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