How can we solve the inequality emergency?

Join us at this special event with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

Global inequality has reached a tipping point. Since 2000, the richest 1% have captured 41% of all new wealth, whilst just 1% went to the bottom half of the population. In 2025, at the request of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Joseph Stiglitz was asked to lead a committee of global experts to prepare a report on global inequality, to be presented to the G20. The final report outlined the drivers of extreme inequality, its consequences and its solutions. The report declared an inequality emergency that is on par with the climate emergency and should be treated as such. Its main recommendation is for the establishment of a new International Panel on Inequality, which would play a similar role to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This proposal has been championed by the governments of Spain, Brazil, Norway and South Africa, and many leading economists and experts, including former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Thomas Piketty and Nobel Prize winner Daren Acemoglu. At this event, Professor Stiglitz will discuss the report and its findings. He will outline how an International Panel on Inequality could address the global inequality emergency.

Meet our speaker and chair

Joseph E Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University, the winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, and a lead author of the 1995 IPCC report, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. At Columbia, Stiglitz co-chairs the Committee on Global Thought and is founder and co-president of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. His latest book, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society, was released in April 2024.

Larry Kramer has been President and Vice Chancellor of LSE since April 2024. A constitutional scholar, university administrator, and philanthropic leader, he was previously the President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean of Stanford Law School.

More about this event

The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

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.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

Any questions?

If you have a query see our Events FAQ or take a look at the information below.

You can also contact us at events@lse.ac.uk.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.