COP30 President launches global climate economics initiative at LSE
LSE welcomes COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago for the launch of the Economics of Climate Organisation (ECO) during London Climate Action Week 2026.
The COP30 President, André Corrêa do Lago, today launched the Economics of Climate Organisation (ECO) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), marking a significant new chapter in the relationship between economic research and global climate policymaking. The new organisation brings together leading economists and policymakers to bridge frontier research and climate action.
ECO is a global, collaborative initiative between leading economists and policymakers, designed to inject new thinking into the design and implementation of climate policies. Its launch at LSE, during London Climate Action Week, brings together some of the world’s foremost economists working on climate, energy, forests, carbon markets and climate finance. Alongside the COP30 President, the panel featured economists and policy experts who have shaped the global climate agenda, including on forests for climate, a unified carbon market, the transition away from fossil fuels, and the effectiveness of climate coalitions in driving multilateral action.
“Climate change is already reshaping lives, geopolitics, and the economy. ECO will bring together the brightest minds to oversee and guide the necessary transformations, ensuring they promote better quality of life, reduce inequalities, and improve governance.”
ECO directly supports the COP process, mobilising the analytical capacity of leading economists to enable informed debate on adaptation, energy, deforestation, carbon markets and climate finance, and to help decision-makers turn ambitions into implementable policy.
"The challenge of climate has broken down the boundaries of economics and many other disciplines", said Professor Robin Burgess, GSoS Theme Lead for Generating Sustainable Growth, Director of the Economics of Environment and Energy Programme (EEE) and the International Growth Centre (IGC) and Professor of Economics at the LSE. "The Economics of Climate Organisation is a point of coordination for all those brilliant people who want to inject new thinking into global climate policymaking."
The initiative is a partnership between researchers from LSE, Columbia University, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Yale University, MIT, and the University of Chicago. It is hosted at the EEE Programme at LSE, in collaboration with the Global School of Sustainability (GSoS) and the IGC.
LSE’s events on climate economics - including its flagship Environment Week - have become a key forum for the policy issues discussed at the UN General Assembly and COP meetings. The launch of ECO during London Climate Action Week signals the initiative’s ambition to operate at that same level of global influence.