The Economics of Environmental Inequality

The programme focuses on four themes:

1. Unequal climate impacts – analysing how climate damages are unevenly distributed across socioeconomic groups and demographic categories such as race, gender, and age, and how these disparities influence vulnerability and perceptions of climate risk.
2. Inequality and climate policy design – exploring how the costs and benefits of environmental policies are shared, and how distributional consequences shape public support or resistance to climate action.
3. Representation and decision-making – investigating whose voices are included in environmental governance and how different social groups are prioritised in practice.
4. The green transition – identifying mechanisms to ensure that transitions to a low-carbon economy contribute to, rather than undermine, shared prosperity.

• Dr Clare Balboni, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, LSE
• Dr Martina Pardy, Postdoctoral Researcher, International Inequalities Institute, LSE and the University of Liverpool
• Professor Giles Atkinson, Professor of Environmental Policy, Department of Geography & Environment, LSE
• Philipp Bothe, PhD student, Paris School of Economics
• Dr Paolo Brunori, Associate Professorial Research Fellow, International Inequalities Institute, LSE
• Dr Michael Callen, Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSE
• Dr Lucas Chancel – Associate Professor, Paris School of Economics & Sciences Po
• Tim Dobermann, Director of Research, International Growth Centre, LSE
• Sarah Elven, PhD Student, Department of Geography & Environment, LSE
• Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies, International Inequalities Institute, LSE
• Stephane Hallegatte, Chief Economic Adviser for Climate, The World Bank
• Dr Hannah Hasenberger, Teaching Associate, University of Cambridge
• Dr David Hope, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Economy, King’s College London
• Dr Amaia Palencia-Esteban, Assistant Professor, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
• Dr Elisabetta Pietrostefani, Assistant Professor, University of Liverpool
• Capucine Riom, Economist, The World Bank
• Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Geography & Environment, LSE
• Dr Lukas Slothuus, Visiting Fellow, Department of Government, LSE
• Romano Tarsia, PhD Student, Department of Geography & Environment, LSE
• Dr Ben Tippet, Assistant Professor, King’s College London
• Dr Ana Varela Varela, Assistant Professor in Geographic Data Science, Department of Geography & Environment, LSE
• Dr Sofie Waltl, Assistant Professor, University of Cambridge

Can we tackle climate change without deepening inequality?
LSE Festival: How to save the planet
19 June 2026

Speakers: Professor Giles Atkinson, Dr Lucas Chancel, Denis Fernando, Zephanie Repollo

This event asks how environmental, economic and social policy can work together to ensure that climate action reduces, rather than reinforces, inequality. Drawing on experiences from across the globe, panellists highlight practical, inclusive approaches to climate action and climate justice, and reflect on how fairness and inclusion can help build the political coalitions needed for a just transition.

Adverse hot-humid conditions and educational outcomes in India: impact measurement and mitigation pathways
Part of the Inequalities Seminar Series
12 May 2026

Speaker: Dr Sofie Waltl

Does extreme heat adversely affect educational outcomes in India? We link results from the Indian Upper Primary Level Examination to local weather, air pollution, and vegetation data derived from remote sensing. Our four-year panel tracks student performance within the same schools while accounting for time-invariant characteristics.

IFS-LSE-QMUL environment economics workshop
30 April 2026

This workshop brought together IFS researchers and top environmental economists working in and around London. Alongside a series of short presentations, the event featured a keynote by Robin Burgess (LSE).

Climate Inequalities Mini-Conference
19 March 2026

The Economics of Environmental Inequality programme co-hosted the second Economics of Environment and Energy mini-conference on the topic of Climate Inequalities. Stephane Hallegate (the World Bank’s Chief Economic Advisor for Climate) presented, and the programme also included short student 'egg-timer’ presentations.

• Global Sustainability Research Fund by the Global School of Sustainability at LSE on The Economics of Environmental Inequality

FloodTraces policy workshop and hackathon

In June 2026, the programme co-hosted a three-day policy workshop and hackathon (22 to 24 June) as part of FloodTraces, a project led by the University of Liverpool in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The project develops integrated data pipelines that combine traditional surveys with digital trace data — including GPS, social media, and satellite imagery — to produce real-time assessments of flood-related displacement. The event demonstrated how rigorous research on environmental inequality can be translated into tools that are actionable for governments and international organisations responding to climate-related displacement.

Working papers

• Negrisolo, G., Brunori, P., Fedeli, E., Lopresti, I., Triventi, M. & Valentini, A. (2026). Heat and learning inequality: evidence from Italy. (III Working Papers 173). International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Articles

• Bharti, Nitin Kumar, Chancel, Lucas, Piketty, Thomas and Somanchi, Anmol (2026) Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922–2023. The Rise of the Billionaire Raj. The World Bank Economic Review. lhag013.
• Bonizzi, Bruno, Dagdeviren, Hulya and Tippet, Ben (2026) Pension Financialization and Workplace Pension Wealth Inequality. Evidence From Britain. Socio-Economic Review, 24 (1). 387–418.
• Brisebois, Audrey and Hoffmann, Roman (2026) Gender and Climate Change. Differential Risks and Resilience Among Internal Migrants at Their Urban Destination in Coastal Bangladesh. Climate and Development. 1–14.
• Brunori, Paolo, Fedeli, Elisa and Triventi, Moris (2026) An Atlas of Educational Inequality in Italy. Outcomes, Disparities and Opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 181 (2). 65.
• Cattaneo, Cristina, Shayegh, Soheil, Albert, Christoph, Alsina-Pujols, Marta, Benveniste, Hélène, Borderon, Marion and others (2026) Broadening Climate Migration Research Across Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation. Nature Climate Change. 1–6.
• Cremades, Roger, Giupponi, Carlo, Raimondo, Sara, Battiston, Stefano, Bosello, Francesco, Filatova, Tatiana and others (2026) ESD Ideas. Reliable Adaptation Policies to Sea-Level Rise Require Incorporating Complexity in Economic Models. EGUsphere, 2026. 1–7.
• Diessner, Sebastian, Durazzi, Niccolo, Filetti, Federico, Hope, David, Kleider, Hanna and Tonelli, Simone (2026) Skill-Biased Policy Change. Governing the Transition to the Knowledge Economy in Germany, Sweden and Britain. Regulation & Governance, 20 (2). 495–508.
• Diessner, Sebastian, Durazzi, Niccolo, Filetti, Federico, Hope, David, Kleider, Hanna, Limberg, Julian and Tonelli, Simone (2026) Welfare State Deservingness in the Era of Mass Higher Education. Public Opinion Quarterly.
• Greenhill, Samuel, Hsiang, Solomon, Balboni, Clare, Barrage, Lint, Bolliger, Ian W., Boomhower, Judson and others (2026) Using Markets to Adapt to Climate Change. Science, 391 (6786). 662–664.
• Hope, David, Limberg, Julian and Haffert, Lukas (2026) The Hidden Cost of Tax Regressivity at the Top. British Journal of Political Science, 56. e2.
• Mahony, Michael and Rowe, Francisco (2026) Urban Enclaves Have Contrasting Labour-Market Effects for Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in England. Cities, 173. 106833.
• Newell, Peter, Slothuus, Lukas, Daley, Finn and Hernández, Diego S. (2026) Power in Fossil Fuel Supply-Side Policy. Closing Down and Opening Up Opportunities to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Production. Global Environmental Politics, 26 (1). 79–99.
• Peisker, Johanna, Hoffmann, Roman and Muttarak, Raya (2026) Climate News Mediates Extreme Weather Effects on Climate Change Concern. Climate Risk Management, 52. 100806.
• Slothuus, Lukas (2026) Free Gifts. Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Contemporary Political Theory, 25 (1). 4.
• Slothuus, Lukas (2026) Symbolic Wins as Stepping Stones Toward Material Gains. Lessons From Sweden’s Fossil Fuel Production Ban. The Extractive Industries and Society, 27. 101929.
• Stockhammer, Engelbert, Tippet, Ben and Kohler, Karsten (2026) What Goes Up, Must Come Down. Speculation-Encouraging Institutions and House Price Cycles Across Countries. Socio-Economic Review. mwaf087.
• Yamaguchi, Rintaro, Agarwala, Matthew and Atkinson, Giles (2026) Non-Renewable Natural Capital and the Social Cost of Carbon in Wealth Accounting. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 103304.
• Balboni, Clare, Burgess, Robin and Olken, Benjamin A. (2025) The Origins and Control of Forest Fires in the Tropics. Review of Economic Studies.
• Bauer, Alexandra M., Hallegatte, Stéphane and McIsaac, Fraser (2025) Optimal Allocation of Abatement Effort Under Political Constraints. The Economic Cost of Delaying Sectoral and Economy-Wide Climate Policies. Environmental and Resource Economics, 88 (12). 3431–3471.
• Beiser-McGrath, Liam F. (2025) Policy in Hard Times. How Individuals’ Energy Insecurity Shape Energy, Climate, and Social Policy Preferences. Energy Policy, 207. 114788.
• Brunori, Paolo, Ferreira, Francisco H. and Neidhöfer, Guido (2025) Inequality of Opportunity and Intergenerational Persistence in Latin America. Oxford Open Economics, 4 (Supplement_1). i167–i199.
• Burgess, Robin and Dobermann, Tim (2025) Climate and Environment. What We Know and What We Need to Know. In: The London Consensus. LSE Press.
• Callen, Michael, Fajardo-Steinhäuser, Mónica, Findley, Michael G. and Ghani, Tarek (2025) Can Digital Aid Deliver During Humanitarian Crises? Management Science, 71 (11). 9730–9748.
• Chancel, Lucas (2025) Énergie et Inégalités. Une Histoire Politique. Seuil.
• Chancel, Lucas and Rehm, Yannick (2025) Accounting for the Carbon Footprint of Capital Ownership Advances the Understanding of Emission Inequality. Climatic Change, 178 (11). 211.
• Chrisendo, Dito, Niva, Ville, Hoffmann, Roman, Masoumzadeh Sayyar, Saman, Rocha, Juan, Sandström, Viliina and Kummu, Matti (2025) Rising Income Inequality Across Half of Global Population and Socioecological Implications. Nature Sustainability. 1–13.
• Dang, Hai-Anh, Carletto, Calogero and Jolliffe, Dean (2025) Better Tracking SDG Progress With Fewer Resources? A Call for More Innovative Data Uses. World Development Perspectives, 39. 100721.
• Dang, Hai-Anh H., Dhongde, Shatakshee, Do, Minh Ngoc, Nguyen, Cuong Viet and Pimhidzai, Obert (2025) Rapid Economic Growth but Rising Poverty Segregation. Will Vietnam Meet the SDGs for Equitable Development? Review of Development Economics, 29 (4). 2063–2075.
• Diessner, Sebastian, Durazzi, Niccolo, Filetti, Federico, Hope, David, Kleider, Hanna and Tonelli, Simone (2025) The Transition to the Knowledge Economy in Advanced Capitalist Democracies. A New Index for Comparative Research. Socio-Economic Review, 23 (4). 2223–2252.
• Eftedal, Nikolai H., Kleppestø, Thomas H., Czajkowski, Nikolai O., Eilertsen, Espen M., Røysamb, Espen, Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer and others (2025) The Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Right-Wing Authoritarianism. A Discordant Twin Study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
• Ferreira, Francisco H. G. (2025) Is There a ‘New Consensus’ on Inequality? LSE Press. 313–350.
• Ferreira, Francisco H. G., Moramarco, Domenico and Peragine, Vito (2025) Economic Development and Inequality of Opportunity. Kuznets Meets the Great Gatsby? Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.
• Galizzi, Matteo M., Wang, Jingxuan, Wei, Yuchen, Kwan, Hoi Shan, Fung, Hong, Yung, Tony K. C. and others (2025) Perceptions, Willingness-to-Pay, and Associated Socio-Demographics of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation in an Affluent Asian Setting. Appetite, 214.
• González-Leonardo, Miguel, Rowe, Francisco, Potančoková, Michaela and Goujon, Anne (2025) Assessing the Differentiated Impacts of COVID-19 on the Immigration Flows to Europe. International Migration Review, 59 (4). 2258–2273.
• Guo, Li, Cheng, Zhiming, Tani, Massimiliano, Cook, Sarah, Zhao, Jing and Chen, Xiaobo (2025) Air Pollution and Entrepreneurship. China Economic Review, 89. 102327.
• Hasenberger, Hannah (2025) Challenging the ‘Fictions of Financialisation’. A Commentary on Explanation in Financial Geography. Finance and Space, 2 (1). 332–337.
• Hepburn, Cameron, Ives, Michael C., Loni, Silvia, Mealy, Penny, Barbrook-Johnson, Peter, Farmer, J. Doyne, Stern, Nicholas and Stiglitz, Joseph (2025) Economic Models and Frameworks to Guide Climate Policy. Oxford Review of Economic Policy.
• Ho, Arnold K., Kteily, Nour S., Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer and Thomsen, Lotte (2025) Social Dominance Orientation. The Motivational Basis of Intergroup Inequality. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 72. 128–208.
• Holuka, Cyrielle, Melacca, A., Menta, Giorgia, d’Ambrosio, Conchita, Morano, S., Štefulj, J. and others (2025) Maternal Birth Experience and DNA Methylation. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 16. e21.
• Holuka, Cyrielle, Menta, Giorgia, Caro, Juan C., Vögele, Claus, d’Ambrosio, Conchita and Turner, Jonathan D. (2025) Developmental Epigenomic Effects of Maternal Financial Problems. Development and Psychopathology, 37 (2). 1004–1017.
• Hope, David, Limberg, Julian and Steinebach, Yannis (2025) Unequal Treatment Perceptions and Rural Backlashes Against Carbon Taxation. European Journal of Political Research. 1–21.
• Hufe, Paul, Kobus, Martyna, Peichl, Andreas and Schüle, Philipp (2025) Multidimensional Equality of Opportunity in the United States. European Economic Review, 180. 105162.
• Iradukunda, Roger, Rowe, Francisco and Pietrostefani, Elisabetta (2025) Estimating Internal Displacement in Ukraine From High-Frequency GPS Mobile Phone Data. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12 (1). 1863.
• Kachanoff, Frank J., Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer, Ho, Arnold K., Richeson, Jennifer and Kteily, Nour S. (2025) Beliefs About What Disadvantaged Groups Would Do With Power Shape Advantaged Groups’ (Un)Willingness to Relinquish It. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 128 (5). 1103–1141.
• Klotz, Michelle, Krpan, Dario, Lohmann, Paul M., Galizzi, Matteo M. and Reisch, Lucia A. (2025) Stop, Think, Buy. An Online Randomised Controlled Experiment Comparing the Effects of Traffic-Light Nutritional Labelling and Price Promotion on Steering Consumer Food Choice. Appetite, 211.
• Kornadt, Anna E., Bowen, Catherine E., Lepinteur, Anthony, Ratti, Luca, Vögele, Claus and d’Ambrosio, Conchita (2025) Working From Home and Well-Being During the Pandemic and Beyond. A Longitudinal Analysis in Five Countries. BMC Public Health, 25. 1183.
• Kornadt, Anna E., Wettstein, Markus, Lepinteur, Anthony, Vögele, Claus and d’Ambrosio, Conchita (2025) Associations of Subjective Age Trajectories With Loneliness and Stress Across Adulthood. PLoS ONE, 20 (4). e0320673.
• Lepinteur, Anthony, Menta, Giorgia and Waltl, Sofie R. (2025) Equal Price for Equal Place? Demand-Driven Racial Discrimination in the Housing Market. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 111. 104089.
• Naidin, Maria D., Waltl, Sofie R. and Ziegelmeyer, Michael H. (2025) Objective Housing Sales and Rent Prices in Representative Household Surveys. Implications for Wealth, Inequality, Housing Market, and Affordability Statistics. Review of Income and Wealth, 71 (1). e12692.