Six challenges for the social sciences: sustainable development
Chair
To achieve sustainable development and stave off the worst risks and costs of global warming and the loss of biodiversity will require fundamental changes in the way societies organise economic growth, govern natural resources, allocate capital, and manage social and political change.
This means accelerating the transition from carbon-intensive production and consumption patterns, reforming financial and regulatory systems so that environmental costs are reflected in market decisions, and addressing high levels of material consumption and waste. It will also require managing energy affordability, building resilient infrastructure, and ensuring economic opportunity. Success will depend on strengthening institutions, improving governance, and building political coalitions that can sustain long-term action despite short-term costs. Equally important will be managing the disruptions that accompany major transitions. Societies will need strategies to help workers, communities, and regions adapt to economic restructuring; strengthen resilience to climate-related shocks, such as droughts, floods, heat waves, and migration pressures; reduce the risks of conflict over water, land, and critical resources; and maintain international cooperation in an era of growing geopolitical competition. To deliver this outcome will require social science tools to understand incentives, behaviour, power, institutions, public trust, distributional impacts, and collective action, helping societies design transitions that are not only environmentally sustainable but also politically feasible, economically competitive, socially just, and resilient in the face of profound global change.
Meet our speakers and chair
Susana Mourato is Professor of Environmental Economics and currently the Vice President and Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) at LSE. Much of her research has been in the area of social value measurement, testing and applying economic valuation techniques to a wide range of environmental, health and social impacts related to ecosystem services, wildlife conservation, air and water pollution, chemicals, climate change, low carbon technologies, and cultural heritage. She has also undertaken research on the links between subjective well-being and the environment, and more recently on using insights from behavioural economics to promote sustainable behaviours.
Jonathan Pershing has extensive experience at the highest level of US climate policy and has played a key role in creating international climate agreements. He has held significant positions in the US Department of State — including as the US Special Envoy for Climate Change — and at the US Department of Energy, as well as leadership roles in the World Resources Institute and the International Energy Agency.
Joana Setzer is an Associate Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, at LSE. Her main areas of expertise are climate litigation and global environmental governance. Since 2013 she has been involved, and since 2020 she leads the Grantham Research Institute’s Climate Change Laws of the World project – the most comprehensive global resource on climate policy and legislation.
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.
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This event is hosted by the Global School of Sustainability.
Other events in the series are on 18 January, 8 February, 22 February, 1 March and 22 March.
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