The green shoots of the new economy

We know that governments across the world are acting far too slowly in tackling the ecological crisis across its many dimensions, but can we usefully look elsewhere for radical action? Can we even find new solutions in in the most unexpected places - from innovative firms and financial actors emerging in an otherwise ecologically destructive capitalism? The panel will discuss whether SME and large private firms and financial actors can develop solutions not just in technology, but by more radically rethinking their social form and purpose. Is it actually possible for firms and finance to buck the trend of destructive economic activity, and if so, how? What challenges do these emergent actors face in scaling up those activities, and what do those challenges teach us about the next steps we need to take to develop a less destructive, altogether more regenerative form of economic activity and thought?

Meet your speakers and chair

Dr Frédéric Basso is Associate Professor of Economic Psychology in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, and Research Officer and Advisory Board Member of the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at the London School of Economics. He is also the programme director of the MSc Societal and Environmental Psychology and member of the Post-Growth Transformation Lab at LSE. His academic work aims to apply, improve and extend the literature on embodiment in order to promote a greater understanding of economic life and encourage transformative social and behavioural change that will enable us to flourish within planetary boundaries and in harmony with other living beings and Earth’s life-supporting systems.

Julie Calkins is a researcher and systems strategist working at the intersection of planetary change, risk, and finance. Trained as an earth systems scientist, Julie began her career with Antarctic research before working on ocean and atmospheric modelling and into public health. She has worked across UK government with Chief Scientific Advisors, and as a Research & Policy Fellow at Wellcome Trust. She has published research with NOAA, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the OECD’s Global Science Forum. She is also co-host of The Clearing, a monthly book club and discussion group focused on the regenerative economy. Julie is currently Sustainability Mission Director at Generation Investment Management, where she leads foresight research and advocacy. Her current work explores how ecological and social thresholds translate into economic and geopolitical instability - and what it takes to build institutions and markets that are fit for a just and sustainable future.

Anuradha has over 27 years’ experience leading purpose-led businesses, including as CEO of Pukka Herbs and Managing Director of Ben & Jerry’s Europe. She currently serves on several boards, including B Lab UK (as Co-Chair), Zebra Growth, Routes Collective, Toms Group, and F&C Investment Trust. Her work explores how organisations can balance commercial success with environmental and social impact, embedding purpose at the heart of operations, brand, and culture.

Akshat Rathi is an award-winning senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News. He is the author of Climate Capitalism, host of the weekly climate-solutions podcast Zero and writes a weekly newsletter. He has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. He has worked for Quartz and The Economist.

Abby Innes is Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute, LSE, where she teaches the political economy of the green transition. Abby began as a specialist on the political economy of the post-communist transition, and through her subsequent work on the failures of neoliberal orthodoxy in the UK and on the green transition in Europe the complexity of ‘whole system’ transitions in political economic terms remains the common thread. Her current work is on regenerative economics, specifically, on how firms, finance and public institutions can convert from the dominant neoclassical economic methods and beliefs of the long twentieth century to strategies, methods and values more compatible with a fragile planet and a thriving society.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How to save the planet running from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026. This year's Festival explores how existential threats including the climate crisis, conflict and AI are affecting all parts of the world, transforming the way and where we live, and how our societies function. With a series of events asking what can we be doing to save the Earth, its people and environment? Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 18 May.

The European Institute (@lseeuropeaninstitute) was established in 1991 at LSE as a world-leading centre for the study of Europe in its global context. With eight master’s degrees and a doctoral programme, a vibrant research community, and a world-leading public events programme, our work spans political economy, politics and policy, culture and society, and migration.

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